In March of this year, the Free Press published an editorial adovocating for the establishment of a 24-hour academic building at The New School. At the start of the Fall 2012 semester, a petition made its way around campus, calling for the same thing — establishing Arnhold Hall as a 24-hour building on campus. At the time of publishing, over 650 students, faculty and parents have signed.

The emergence of the petition is undoubtedly news at The New School. Yet the Free Press’s belief in the importance of a 24-hour building is such that we have assisted in development of the petition and its proliferation. This being the case, we’re not going to cover it as a story, for the time being.  Instead, we are officially throwing our support, as a publication, behind seeing that its goals are actualized. the Free Press editorial board calls on President David Van Zandt, Provost Tim

Marshall, and The New School administration to recognize the calls of their student body, and provide them with the resources that they deserve at an institution that demands one of the highest costs of attendance in the nation.

Over 600 members of our community have signed the petition thus far, some leaving comments. One student said, “I am a student at the New School for Scarce Resources and I would like to get my money’s worth at this institution. Since that’s never going to happen, at the very least I’d like to get a 24-hour study space where we aren’t treated like second-class students,” referring to The New School’s reliance on NYU’s Bobst Library as a late night study space.

We at the Free Press urge every student, faculty and staff member of The New School to sign the petition.

You can sign the petition here.