While striking workers walked the picket line on Day Four of the first-ever strike by Rutgers educators, students coped with canceled classes, as final exams loom and then commencement in May. Graduating senior Farah Rouf supports the professors who are on strike but she’s keeping an eye on the calendar, too. “I hope they reach a solution and graduation doesn’t have to be delayed,” Rouf said.
For some international students, timing is crucial. Freshman James Pan has already bought his tickets to fly back home to China this summer. “If tests and exams are delayed by the strike, it’ll probably mess up my trips,” he said.
Students say they’re trying to keep up online and that professors are keeping in touch, but that often follows a long day on the strike line. Union negotiators say progress is being made in contract talks — mostly on financial items — but that complex core issues like equity are taking longer to resolve.
