The head sewing machine technician for Parsons School of Fashion, Marco Viteri, is leaving his position Friday to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology.

After working at Parsons for 7 years, Viteri made the difficult decision to take a job offer at FIT in which he would have a significantly larger salary and more benefits.

Students said they were both deeply heartbroken by Viteri’s departure and seriously worried for the future of their education.

“When I think back on the four years that I spent at Parsons, I remember one individual who was consistently a part of everyday life in the school,” Gregory Beacham, a Parson alumnus, wrote on an online petition regarding Viteri’s departure. “No matter what it was, Marco would always go above and beyond what any student or professor would expect from him… He took a genuine interest in every single student that knew him. Losing Marco would create an unfillable void at the school that I don’t think they’re prepared for.”

Viteri is leaving Parsons because his salary was too low to support his family and the school refuses to give him a raise, he said.

“I know this is a very prestigious school, but the prestige doesn’t feed my family,” Viteri said. “We have five mouths to feed.”

When the new University Center building was built and the School of Fashion relocated there in 2014, the school asked Viteri to be the fashion resource manager, but despite the promotion and larger number of responsibilities, Viteri was not given a raise, he said. Around then, FIT offered him the position of production manager. He initially rejected the offer and opted to stay with the Parsons students and professors that he loved, still hopeful for a pay upgrade.

He did not receive a raise, and decided to take the offer at FIT. He stressed that it was not something he wanted to do, but he had to.

“I leave with my heart broken,” Viteri said. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do on Friday, maybe I don’t want to come [on my last day].”

Fashion student Josefina Bailleres, deeply saddened by the news, petitioned the Parsons Fashion administration to show Viteri’s importance to fellow students. The petition had almost 700 supporters as of Friday afternoon.  Hundreds of fashion students, alumni, professors, and even students outside the program left comments emphasizing their appreciation for Viteri.  

Students said they learned more from him than most or all of their professors. He is called a “father figure,” “the heartbeat of Parsons fashion” and “a guardian angel” numerous times in the testimonials. Many said Parsons would never be the same without Viteri and urged the school to not let him go.

Some students and alumni are angry with the administration.

“Please stop sacrificing the integrity of the students’ education for flashier buildings and publicity. Please instead honor the selfless faculty members that put their time and heart into teaching us,” Tammy Chow wrote on the petition.

Others reiterated this point, asking where their tuition money was going if not for the salaries of professors and technicians.

The dean of the School of Fashion, Burak Cakmak, sent out an email to faculty stating, “We were surprised and disappointed by this news, as his formidable expertise and generosity of spirit is greatly valued by students, faculty, and staff. Our priority at this time is making sure students have the resources and support they need in light of his departure.” Cakmak also said he wished to meet with students to discuss options.

The New School did not immediately return a request for comment. However, Viteri said Friday that he met with Cakmak earlier that day and learned that the dean was unaware of the technician’s frequent requests for a raise. The dean hadn’t even heard of Viteri’s departure, the technician said.

Although Viteri is set to start at FIT on Monday, he may return to Parsons on a part-time basis to train staff and lead student workshops, he said. 

On Jan. 31, school administrators posted an open call to fill Viteri’s position, fashion facilities manager. Some students have criticized the posting for not listing the ability to fix any machines when broken in the qualifications and responsibilities.

“You’re not going to find anyone else like him,” Madeleine Hogan, a student technician who works under Viteri, said, emphasizing his more than 30 years of industry experience. “I don’t understand how [the school] doesn’t have an allowance for technicians.” Her coworkers, Lashun Costor and Joy Douglas agreed.

“A lot of the stuff he knows how to do to the machines are not in the manuals,” Douglas said.

Even to the very last minute, Viteri has been working hard to help students. While interviewing him for this piece, several students sought his help and one professor came into Viteri’s machine room to show it to a team from Hugo Boss. As the professor introduced Viteri, he said, “our students cannot graduate without him.”

 

Correction: This story initially ran with unverified information from the New School administration regarding staff raises. It has since been updated.

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Photos: Julia Himmel