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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Daniel Redden, Chairperson of University Student Senate and Student Trustee for CUNY
4:13:25
·
114 sec
Daniel Redden, Chairperson of the University Student Senate and Student Trustee for CUNY, testifies about the critical need for transit assistance for CUNY students. He emphasizes how transit costs are a significant barrier to student attendance and success, sharing personal experiences and survey data to support his argument.
- Redden highlights that 64% of students worry about affording transit, 53% have skipped meals to pay fare, and 71% have missed or been late to class due to lack of transit fare.
- He advocates for a $5,000 appropriation in the CUNY budget request to fund 4,000 semester passes, which could be linked to student IDs for tracking attendance and academic performance.
- Redden stresses that helping students get to the classroom is crucial for improving graduation rates and overall student success.
Daniel Redden
4:13:25
Hi.
4:13:26
Good afternoon.
4:13:27
My name is Daniel Redden.
4:13:28
It's an honor to be before you again and testifying at this executive budget committee hearing.
4:13:34
My name is Daniel Redden as I said, and I am the University of Student Senate Chairperson and the Student Trustee for CUNY.
4:13:41
But I also am a son of immigrants who grew up in Brownsville, Brooklyn in public housing in NYCHA, and I had to work every single day just to support myself and my family.
4:13:53
Right?
4:13:53
And the swipes that I got growing up going to public school, those transit swipes, those MTA swipes was really essential for me to be able to go to and from just to survive.
4:14:05
And 80% of those students who go to a public school in New York City go to a CUNY school.
4:14:11
And, you know, we did some some data for some time and some surveys.
4:14:16
And a spring survey found that sixty four percent of students worry about affording transit, fifty three percent have skipped meals to pay the fare, and seventy one percent have arrived late or missed class because they lacked a swipe.
4:14:28
And we know that attendance loss is always the first step to, you know, dropping out.
4:14:33
And if we want students to truly graduate, then we have to help them get to the classroom in the first place.
4:14:39
And and so this $5,000 appropriation in the green sheet this year from the CUNY budget request is you know, could possibly fund 4,000 semester passes, and each pass would be linked to a student ID, which lets CUNY track attendance, credit accumulation, GPA, and report the outcomes to this committee.
4:15:01
So, you know, transit relief is the it's the overwhelming sentiment and the overwhelming financial barrier, small financial barrier that CUNY students have highlighted, and so we're here yet again reiterate that and just want you know to say that one last time.
4:15:18
So thank you.
4:15:19
Thank you committee.