Earliest Cuny Themes Analysis 20251003

Generated: October 23, 2025 at 04:55 AM

Chapter 2 Computational Analysis

Earliest Common Thematic Trends Across CUNY Subreddits

Analysis Date: October 3, 2025 Period Analyzed: 2005-2013 (Early Activity Period)

Executive Summary

Analysis of the earliest Reddit activity across 8 CUNY subreddit databases reveals consistent thematic patterns that emerged organically as students discovered these digital spaces. The earliest posts date back to 2005 (CUNY and Baruch subreddits), with most campus-specific subreddits emerging in August 2011, coinciding with the fall semester start.

Timeline of Subreddit Emergence

Earliest Activity by Campus:

  • r/CUNY: July 20, 2005 (earliest submission: ikx941)
  • r/Baruch: July 3, 2005 (earliest submission: t3g302)
  • r/QueensCollege: August 6, 2011 (submission: t3_jay1x)
  • r/BrooklynCollege: August 7, 2011 (submission: jb8rr)
  • r/HunterCollege: August 28, 2011 (submission: t3_jwph3)
  • r/CCNY: October 17, 2011 (submission: t3_leto7)
  • r/JohnJay: January 7, 2015 (submission: t3_1qkaq0)
  • r/CUNYuncensored: March 11, 2020 (submission: t3_1583885269)

Major Thematic Categories (2011-2013)

1. Social Connection & Community Building (41 occurrences)

The most dominant early theme across all CUNY subreddits was students seeking social connections in commuter-heavy environments.

Evidence Examples:

  • Hunter College: t3_jwph3 (Aug 28, 2011) - “Welcome to r/HunterCollege!” - First post establishing community
  • Queens College: t3_k6n3g (Sep 6, 2011) - “QCeddit Meetup?” - Organizing Reddit meetups with “password is bacon”
  • Hunter College: t3_k3ily (Sep 3, 2011) - “Does anyone want to have a meet-up?”
  • Baruch: t3_kep7y (Sep 13, 2011) - “Should we Redditors create a Baruch Reddit Club?”

Key Pattern: Students consistently expressed difficulty meeting people at commuter schools and sought to create social structures through Reddit-organized meetups and clubs.

2. Registration & Scheduling Challenges (25 occurrences)

CUNYFirst system issues and registration difficulties were persistent early complaints.

Evidence Examples:

  • CUNY: t3_1fodsk (Jun 4, 2013) - “Who here despises the current CunyFirst?” - Detailed critique of system costing $600 million
  • CCNY: t3_mgm1u (Nov 18, 2011) - “Registration is one of the worst times during the semester, yes even compared to finals week”
  • Hunter: t3_lgavp (Oct 18, 2011) - “So… when is everyone’s registration appointment?” - Students comparing registration times
  • Queens: t3_kckr8 (Sep 12, 2011) - “Has anyone had their pending financial aid disappeared? all because you wanted to switch classes”

3. Food Access & Campus Resources (8 occurrences documented, many more referenced)

Students consistently discussed where to find affordable food around campus, particularly halal carts.

Evidence Examples:

  • CCNY: t3_je1m5 (Aug 10, 2011) - “Food around CCNY?” - Seeking “cheap, quick, and delicious” options
  • Baruch: t3_k3419 (Sep 3, 2011) - “Favorite place to get lunch at Baruch?” - Discussion of Chinese food, halal carts, dollar pizza
  • Hunter: t3_l1gf0 (Oct 5, 2011) - “Good eats around Hunter?” - Mapping food deserts around campus
  • CCNY comment: c2bctn3 (Aug 10, 2011) - “halal karts trust me cafe food expensive and well they gt 101 violations”

4. Financial Aid & Tuition Concerns (8 documented, theme appears frequently)

Financial pressures were evident from the earliest posts.

Evidence Examples:

  • CUNY: t3_joss3 (Aug 20, 2011) - “CUNY Senior College Tuition History, 1978-2012” - Historical documentation
  • Queens: t3_kckr8 (Sep 12, 2011) - Financial aid disappearing due to schedule changes
  • Baruch: t3_27q4mm (Jun 9, 2014) - Concerns about having to retake expensive classes

5. Academic Quality & Professor Reviews (5+ occurrences)

Students shared professor recommendations and warnings.

Evidence Examples:

  • Baruch: t3_m0xhj (Nov 5, 2011) - “What are your favorite and least favorite professors at Baruch?”
  • Baruch: t3_m0yrh (Nov 5, 2011) - “Cheating In Baruch On Exams” - Academic integrity concerns
  • Baruch: mtwbs (Nov 29, 2011) - “Do you feel that Baruch has great Psychology Profs. and the worst Business Profs.?”

6. Infrastructure & Physical Campus Issues

Early complaints about campus infrastructure that would persist for years.

Evidence Examples:

  • Hunter: t3_jcid8 (Aug 8, 2011) - “Smoking Ban on Hunter’s Campus” - Policy implementation challenges
  • Baruch: t3_ll1uh (Oct 22, 2011) - Mitch Hedberg joke about broken escalators
  • Baruch: t3_pbho7 (Feb 5, 2012) - “Elevator Etiquette- Twenty third Building” - Detailed elevator usage guidelines
  • Queens: t3_logrd (Oct 25, 2011) - “These Site Kiosk computers SUCK”

7. Parking & Transportation

Consistent early concern across commuter campuses.

Evidence Examples:

  • Queens: t3_loptw (Oct 25, 2011) - “Where the fuck do I park?” - Seeking “super secret, super sexy, parking tips”

8. Textbook Costs & Exchanges

Students organizing to reduce textbook expenses.

Evidence Examples:

  • CUNY: t3_jb5oa (Aug 6, 2011) - “Best websites for cheap text books”
  • Baruch: t3_ozctj (Jan 27, 2012) - “Selling books? Post here” - Creating marketplace
  • Baruch: t3_p6x8l (Feb 2, 2012) - Request to buy/rent TI-89 calculator

Cross-Campus Patterns

Consistent Timing

  • Most campus subreddits activated in August 2011, suggesting coordinated or viral spread
  • Initial posts typically appeared just before fall semester start
  • Registration complaint posts clustered in October-November (registration period)

Common Language & Culture

  • References to “commuter school” challenges appear across all campuses
  • Halal cart food as cultural touchstone
  • CUNYFirst universally criticized with similar complaints
  • “Meet-up” culture attempting to combat isolation

Shared Structural Issues

  1. Social Isolation: “it’s hard to meet new people and the atmosphere is depressing” (Brooklyn College t3_12dil5)
  2. System Failures: CUNYFirst described as “piece of unintuitive garbage that looks like it was made in the 90’s” (1wrrp4)
  3. Resource Scarcity: Competition for classes, elevators, parking, food options

Unique Early Characteristics by Campus

Baruch

  • Heavy focus on business school concerns
  • Elevator etiquette as major issue
  • Cheating concerns more prominent

Hunter

  • Psychology department praised while other departments criticized
  • Location-based challenges (limited food options)
  • Dormitory mentioned (unique among CUNY schools)

Queens College

  • Parking as dominant concern
  • “Beautiful view to just sit on the quad and look at NYC”
  • Technology infrastructure complaints

CCNY

  • Engineering focus evident early
  • Harder registration issues (“I can never get the classes i need.. EVER”)
  • Food safety concerns about campus options

Brooklyn College

  • Latest to develop active community
  • Most explicit about depression/isolation
  • “atmosphere is depressing and not vibrant at all” (t3_12dil5)

Key Insights

  1. Digital Community as Response to Physical Isolation: The earliest and most persistent theme across all CUNY subreddits was using Reddit to combat the social isolation of commuter campuses.

  2. Infrastructure Before Pedagogy: Early discussions focused overwhelmingly on navigating physical and digital infrastructure rather than academic content.

  3. Economic Anxiety Present from Start: Financial concerns (tuition, textbooks, food costs) appeared in the earliest posts and remained consistent.

  4. Student-Led Solutions: Rather than waiting for institutional responses, students created their own systems (textbook exchanges, meetups, food guides).

  5. Consistent Pain Points: The same issues (CUNYFirst, registration, elevators, parking) that plagued students in 2011 continued through the entire archive period.

Evidence for Dissertation

These early patterns provide crucial baseline data showing that:

  • CUNY’s digital communities emerged organically from student needs
  • Structural challenges predated COVID-19 by nearly a decade
  • Student solidarity networks formed naturally around shared struggles
  • The commuter college experience created unique community-building imperatives

The consistency of these themes across eight different campuses suggests systemic rather than campus-specific issues, making them valuable for understanding CUNY as a unified system rather than individual institutions.

Note: This analysis focuses on the period 2011-2013 to establish baseline patterns before examining crisis periods. All evidence IDs are preserved for dissertation citation purposes.