Our Stories
“For the past 18 months, I have been on the sidelines of K-SWOC’s efforts. I signed a union card from the beginning, but have since supported their work from afar, reporting weekly on their collective organizing work and attending meetings when I found the time. But this year, Kenyon’s claim that student workers were not essential to the college’s operations pushed me to go further.
As a work-study student, my identity as a student is impossible without the word “worker” attached to it. I work two jobs while also running the school newspaper, which often means that I am doing work before school. But the fact is that I would not have to overwork myself if I was compensated appropriately and if my hours were more consistent. This is precisely why we need a union: I want to have a say in the way I am treated in the workplace. Our employers cannot make decisions for us in a job they do not work.”
Linnea Mumma ‘22, Writing Center Consultant
"All students in my workplace at Special Collections & Archives daily perform tasks that make it possible for student and faculty research to continue smoothly. Like any student employment position on campus, our work directly affects the positive experience of the larger student body. Because all student staff in SC&A regardless of experience-level provide these essential functions it is important to me that during the bargaining process we highlight the necessity of paying all workers fairly and equally."
Zoë Packel '22, Special Collections and Archives Student Manager
Our work at the Kenyon Bookstore is considered an essential service––even if everything else shuts down, our store does not close.
Many of my coworkers have had to work through anxiety attacks, extreme fatigue, and migraines. While our managers consider themselves gracious for "giving" us unpaid time off, the simple fact is that many of us work through sickness and pain because we can't afford not to.
I missed two weeks of wages because I was in the hospital the week before Thanksgiving break, which means I earned nothing during that pay period.
If our paid time off matched the same rate accrued by Kenyon maintenance workers––1 hour PTO for every 7.6 hours of work––I would have been able to cover two thirds of the hours I was scheduled to work that week.
Ceci Rodriguez, Kenyon Bookstore and Communications
My name is Nick Becker (he/him/his) and I’m a junior Political Science major from Pittsburgh, PA. At Kenyon, I’m a proud member of the Kenyon Young Democratic Socialists of America and I play ultimate frisbee on Kenyon Serf. I’m also a student worker, on a work-study grant, at Helpline.
Through watching the work of my fellow Helpliners and other student workers, I have learned that the community and activities that I know and love at Kenyon are impossible to sustain without the labor of student workers. At Helpline, we are constantly told that our work is essential to Kenyon’s functioning, and that the campus would fall apart without us. From my experience as a Helpliner and being helped by other Helpliners, I firmly believe that is true. Yet I do not feel like Kenyon adequately values the labor of student workers. When campus closed last spring, I was lucky that Helpline transitioned smoothly to remote work. That was not the case for hundreds of student workers, many of whom were my friends who are also on work-study. The fact that it took a petition with over 250 signatures for student workers to simply be paid for the work that they responsibly expected to complete—and on which they were relying on for income—was a massive wake-up call.
It was unconscionable to me that so many student workers, many from marginalized backgrounds, would be financially cut off during a global pandemic and economic crisis. I realized then student workers needed to organize to have a voice in workplace decision-making and to protect our rights and livelihoods. I support a union of student workers because I fundamentally believe in the intelligence and capability of myself and my fellow coworkers to understand what is in the best interest for our jobs and our lives. We know the precarity of student employment because we lived through campus closing in March. We understand firsthand how the unequal power management holds can turn our workplaces toxic. We see that Kenyon’s wage tiers are simply used as an excuse to pay some student workers an even lower poverty wage than others. And, finally, through organizing around these issues this summer, we are recognizing that the only way to fully address them now and in the future is by standing together in a union.
Unions run deep in my community and my family. Pittsburghers, who live in a historical seat of worker struggle and a birthplace of industrial unionism, almost instinctively know the value of workplace solidarity. My father himself was a member of a union (TNG-CWA) and taught me from a young age that “a bad boss isn’t that bad if you have a union” because the best workplace protection is the collective power of your fellow workers. I not only believe that a union will protect and empower student workers at Kenyon now, but together we can create an institution that will always exist to fight for the needs of student workers for generations to come.
Nick Becker ‘22, Helpline Consultant and Senior Admissions Fellow
Hi all. My name is April Murphy, and I'm a Junior Economics major with a Biology minor from Edmond, Oklahoma. On-campus, I've held leadership roles in Active Students Helping the Earth Survive (ASHES) and written for Her Campus Kenyon. I'm a member of Kenyon's Microbiology lab and study anthropogenic influences on the Kokosing's microbiome.
In my work as a Community Advisor, I help to guide and facilitate a strong community on campus (in and outside of residential spaces). As a member of the Archon Society, a Greek service organization, I volunteer as a health coach for low-income people with chronic disease and disability in Knox County once or twice a week as well as in local soup kitchens. I care deeply about the emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, cultural, and social wellbeing of myself, my friends, and my community as a whole and am passionate about working to advance this cause.
As a middle-class student, I rely heavily on my student worker positions to help me survive on campus. I use my wages to pay for medication, gas, clothing, and phone bills each month. Because I am self-supporting, I work upwards of 30 hours a week while studying full time, volunteering, holding campus leadership positions, and trying to eat, socialize, sleep, and exercise. To say I am exhausted and overwhelmed on campus is a drastic understatement. This exhaustion is deeply compounded when I am unable to take sick or mental health leave from my positions when I am physically or mentally unwell.
COVID multiplied my anxiety about and in my workplace. In the spring, I didn't know for weeks if I would continue to be compensated as a Community Advisor while off-campus. Furthermore, I found myself trying to work remotely at Helpline while also taking on care-giving roles at home. Because I suffer from a chronic disability which puts me at high-risk if I contract COVID, I am unable to return to campus in the Fall and continue my work as a Community Advisor. I am not guaranteed a job upon my return, and I doubt that my supervisors will look to rehire me because I spoke out about concerns I had about the mental, physical, and monetary wellbeing of myself and other low-income Community Advisors. I'm terrified that my financial situation will collapse as COVID cases advance. I'm even more terrified for my dear friends who face challenges, risks and prejudice greater than what I experience.
I love my work as a Helpline Consultant. I love solving problems and helping my community navigate the odd and frequently confusing world of technology. To my core, I am a people person, and I believe this is deeply reflected in my work as a Helpline consultant. I love my work as a Community Advisor. I love helping people feel just as much at home at Kenyon as I do. I love getting to know my residents and being an advocate for them. I love working to improve the residential spaces which I supervise and getting to know all the quirks, peculiarities, and individualities of each of my residents.
I believe my passion for building community is evident in my work as a Community Advisor. Kenyon could not function without students who love supporting their community through their work on campus. Low-income students could not function at Kenyon without the financial stability and work-experience that their campus positions provide. Kenyon needs its student workers just as much as its student workers need their work. For example, without Helpline consultants, many professors and students would be lost and frustrated without personal support. Tech emergencies would go unattended to, emails would go unread, calls would be sent to voicemails, and problems would go unsolved. Without Community Advisors, students would be missing a crucial link between themselves and Residential Life and College Administrators. Their questions about mental health resources, laundry, the ants on their floor, or the broken fire alarm in their room would be left hanging.
Kenyon cannot survive without student workers. Not only do we save the college outsourcing costs and liability, but we enrich our workplaces because our workplaces are also our rooms, our study nooks, our art galleries, our dining hall, and our homes. Student-workers deserve the ability to communicate their concerns with the administration and to know that they will be taken seriously. I know many of my concerns have gone unanswered. KSWOC will level the playing field of dialogue. The administration knows that the College needs student workers just as much as student workers need it. It's definitely time that they start acting like it. Without a system for an organized conversation with the strength of a large union, the Kenyon administration will never value its student workers in their policies and actions as they fully deserve. I'm exhausted. I'm tired. I'm struggling. And, I'm incredibly grateful I have a Union that sees my struggles and the struggles of my friends, and is as willing to fight for me as I am willing to fight for it.
April Murphy ‘22, Community Advisor
My name is Dienabou Diallo, but everyone calls me Dana. I use she/her/hers pronouns, and I am a sophomore at Kenyon. I am going to double major in Women and Gender studies and something else, with a minor in history and a concentration in African Diaspora Studies. I am the Sergeant at Arms for Kenyon’s BSU, an Orientation Leader, and last semester, I worked for the Kenyon Bookstore.
In order to look at why a union would have personally benefited me, I need to take a step back and look at the journey that got me to the position I am in now. While I am a work study student, I went my entire first semester of college unemployed which added to the financial burden I am under. Unlike many of my peers, I counted on a work study job to be able to financially support myself, and not having a job my first semester heightened my already high anxieties. A union would have expedited my job search while ensuring I received the hours and the pay that would have filled the allotted amount of my work study.
Nonetheless, I managed to get a job at the Bookstore last semester where I worked 10 hours a week on Mondays and Fridays. My employers were very nice, but it was made clear from the start that this was not a work study job. I wasn’t allowed to catch up on school work, even if the bookstore wasn’t that busy, and they kept me on my feet for most of my 5 hour shifts. Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful for the job. However, to say I wasn’t exhausted after every shift would be a lie. This semester I have too many commitments, and I can’t afford to be exhausted so I quit my job. But the difference between my first semester and this semester is I know a union will help me find a job that will accommodate my busy schedule and won’t leave me feeling drained.
The most important reason why I joined this union is this: we need to start holding Kenyon accountable for its racist policies and behaviors both within the workplace and everywhere else on campus. For decades, BIPOC have been working on anti-racist policies and measures without receiving any recognition or support from the college, and yet the college has continuously reaped the benefits from our work. The union needs to stand by BIPOC students who are working to establish an anti-racist campus both within and outside their workplaces.
I am not going to write a conclusion. A conclusion means that there is an ending, and this is not an ending-- it’s just the beginning. Kenyon workplaces need to change, Kenyon’s general environment needs to change, and that change cannot be accomplished without a union to amplify the voices of student workers.
Dienabou Diallo ‘23, Kenyon Bookstore
My name is Chard Shapiro (they/them) and I’m a sophomore at Kenyon College. I am an English Major, a member of KYDSA, WKCO, and a student worker at the Horn Gallery. I joined the Horn Gallery, both as a club member and later as a Sound Technician, because of the community it hosted and the opportunities provided for artistic exploration.
When COVID-19 hit, I, along with my co-workers and every other student worker at Kenyon, was left to wonder whether or not we’d continue to receive the income on which many of us relied. This issue was resolved by KYDSA and the individuals who would go on to form K-SWOC. As the pandemic dragged on into its third, fourth, and finally fifth month, we were still without any updates on how our workplace might function, or if the Horn Gallery would continue to operate at all. Once again, K-SWOC stepped in and assisted the Horn Gallery. It is without a doubt that we are all moving into this fall semester with great concern and uncertainty, and that we will face many challenges in the months to come. The service K-SWOC and its members have provided for the community is already undeniable, and has shown the strength we have to persevere when we work and stand together in solidarity.
Richard Shapiro ‘23, Horn Gallery
“Hello! My name is Carissa Kieger (she/her/hers), I’m from Cleveland, Ohio, and I’m in Kenyon’s Class of ‘24! I work as a Helpline Consultant at LBIS, as well as participate in Kenyon Asian Identities, REACH, and Kenyon College Dance, Drama, and Cinema Club.
I became a student worker in a time like no other; a time of uncertainty and confusion. This made finding a job all the more difficult, especially as a first-year in the Fall of 2020, as I had no previous connections established within the Kenyon community. After applying to multiple job positions and only hearing back from two, I thankfully was able to secure a job that I thoroughly enjoy. However, I find this process to be very difficult –– particularly for work-study students, as finding a job is crucial to their being able to attend Kenyon.
As first-years coming to Kenyon, work-study students, and therefore low-income students, are disproportionately at a higher disadvantage than non-work study students. In addition to getting adjusted to college life, work-study students must also familiarize themselves with the job application process at Kenyon and spend time applying to each job with no guaranteed employment. Some of my peers on work-study have either decided to take the loss in loans in order to take time for themselves in adjusting to the college environment, and others have applied to jobs but never anything back.
Furthermore, there have been instances in which a lack of communication within the job setting has led to confusion. The pandemic has raised uncertainties on how we would continue our education in a safe and practical manner, and Kenyon has been transparent on testing procedures as well as classroom policies. However, our work policy has not been made clear. For example, I was not aware that I would still be able to get paid for hours lost due to COVID-19 policy implementations throughout the semester. Additionally, while I worked on campus, Helpline was not accepting walk-up visits to minimize the spread of COVID-19, but because we were to remain in the same location, there were multiple in-person requests for assistance. Both of these issues could have been avoided with better communication by the college not only to its workers, but also to its students.
This is only my experience, and although there are issues like at any other workplace, I love my job at Helpline and am very fortunate that I was hired in my first semester. Working at Helpline has helped me approach problems from a more logical approach; first figure out what is trying to be accomplished, then troubleshoot to find the best solution. I’ve learned many valuable skills, such as taking each problem one step at a time, corresponding with faculty and students in a professional manner, as well as learning more about the role technology fills at Kenyon College. Helpliners are essential to the College’s functionality; professors are here to teach and students are here to learn –– not to get distracted with technical difficulties.
When I first heard about K-SWOC, I was intimidated because I wasn’t sure what I could bring to the table (as only being a First-Year). However, by attending the general meetings and hearing about the unfair treatment others have received as Kenyon Student Workers, I realized that a Student Union is crucial in ensuring that we receive fair wages, treatment, sick leave, etc., as well as making sure that the college prioritizes the hiring of work study students. I’m both a student and a worker –– being one doesn’t make me less of the other. We’re in a unique position: sometimes these roles collide, but this doesn’t mean we should be penalized for it. We need to ensure that our rights are not encroached upon and that we have a say in matters that directly affect us. Without a platform to share our experiences and unify under, we hold no power. A Union will bring attention to the unique issues we face as student workers, ensure that we receive proper treatment, and allow us to collaborate with our managers and the administration in making the workplace comfortable and enjoyable for everyone.”
Carissa Kieger ‘24, Helpline Consultant
My name is Amanda Pyne (she/her) and I’m a senior English major and Arabic minor. As a work-study student, it’s impossible for me to be a student first and a worker second—those two identities are inextricable, and as a result my responsibilities as a worker often come before my schoolwork.
Despite my work-study status, I wasn’t able to get a job until my second semester, and even then, I had no scheduled shifts and could only log hours by covering my coworkers’ shifts. In that position, I also witnessed my direct supervisor threaten a coworker with termination for simply asking if we’d be paid for our training.
Now, I work two jobs that I enjoy, and have always felt support and appreciation from my supervisors. But individual positive experiences are not enough—we need and continue to fight for a union in order to ensure that all student workers, collectively, have a fair say in shaping their workplace conditions. A union will give student workers the rightful agency we deserve to advocate for ourselves and our needs and conditions in our workplace.
Amanda Pyne ‘22, Writing Center Consultant and Special Collections and Archives Student Manager
“Since I started working, my fellow students (through K-SWOC) have consistently offered me more support than my employer. I want a union because only since K-SWOC started organizing have I seen changes like guaranteed weekly hours and access to pay when I'm sick. I deserve a union because I am a student but I'm also a worker— and Kenyon needs to respect my rights.”
Amelia Carnell '23, Admissions Tour Guide
My name is Jack Cheston (he/him/his). I am a rising senior, a history major, and I work at the Kenyon Farm as a student manager, a role I share with 10+ other students. I support K-SWOC and believe in organizing collectively with my fellow student workers to form a union.
I see my job as an essential element of Kenyon’s community. The Farm supplies Gambier with outdoor stress-relief and fresh food. We provide a unique opportunity for students to meld an extracurricular activity with the work they do in the classroom. As one of the only organizations on campus that exists in the agricultural network of Knox County, we can help bring rural issues to a campus that is all too separated from the concerns of the county in which it is situated. Lastly, the farm provides a much needed mental health outlet for students who have effectively no access to professional care while living at Kenyon. I am very proud to live and work at the Farm.
However, it is because I am proud to be a Kenyon farmer that I find its intrinsic organizational deficiencies so disheartening. Effective and ethical farm work centers care: care for the land, care for the animals, care for the people who eat the food and care for the people who produce the food. “Caring” requires an organizational environment that is intentionally and mutually crafted by all workers to value teamwork, equity, and planning––which has not been met at the Kenyon Farm. At the Farm, student managers take on all of the day-to-day responsibilities of farm management, but we have inadequate oversight over the long-term responsibilities of the Farm. As a result, this organization not only skirts on its missions concerning education and sustainability; it also does not live up to its commitments to the Gambier community, and it creates a working environment that is untenable for the most vulnerable student workers. Student farmers are not given the power to create a farm that lives up to its responsibilities.
The Farm is exclusionary and dangerously inefficient. The solution must be workplace democracy, achievable only through a union. The union will promise budget oversight to the farmers; without decision-making powers over the budget, we are unable to address the problems facing the farm. These problems include inefficient planning and project implementation, inaccessibility to low income students, and unsustainable practices. Projects and control over the direction of the farm are not done with a mind to the needs of the workers. This makes our jobs harder, but it also makes the farm less efficient. Wouldn’t it make sense for the people making the long term decisions about the farm to be the same people who operate the farm? Every large project and budgetary decision should be voted on by the student workers, and the student workers should have control over the long term direction of the farm. A union will demand these rights.
Relatedly, the Farm summer job, an absolutely essential part of the Farm’s operations, is inaccessible to low income students. Student farmers have been told that the budget does not allow for fair payment and housing during the summer, but we have never been shown these numbers. The summer farmers are capped at 25 hours a week and are expected to pay room and board on top of that. After basic living expenses, the summer farmers net close to $0 if they are not supported by a parent or guardian. However, without seeing the budget or having any powers over how to allocate it, we have no ability to help solve this problem—a problem that we are most motivated to solve.
Lastly, the student farmers have time and time again pushed for the Farm to become more sustainable, but we fall short of our goals. For instance, we waste far too much food. In order to eliminate food waste, the Farm has to seek out vendors suitable to our operations and plan our growing seasons months in advance. It takes planning and teamwork to make sure that all of the food we grow has a place to go. In our current organizational structure, food that could be feeding people at Kenyon and in Knox County goes to waste. In a county where over 60% of residents are at risk of being food insecure, it is not acceptable for our production to be so inefficient and unsustainable. Although students have asked to be a part of solving this problem for years, they have never been given the tools or power to—that is, power over short and long term planning and democratic management of the yearly budget. Joining a union would not be a quick fix to any single problem at the Farm. Instead, a union presents an ethic of how workers are supposed to relate to their managers. Union values are not only necessary for the Farm to function; they are the exact values that the Farm purports but does not live up to. The Farm is student run; we should have ownership over its direction and ethos because we are the ones who work it.
A union would ensure that the farm is passed down from students to students rather than from the administration to students. Moreover, by joining a union, student farmers could meet and bargain with our managers as equals. We could collectively bargain for fair pay, democratic budgetary power, long term planning powers, and for making the Farm more accessible to low income students. We want to make sure that these are rights that student farmers can enjoy today and in the future; a union is the only institution that can offer that longevity. We must join a union.
Jack Cheston ‘22, Farm Associate
I’m Rebecca Kornman ‘22, she/hers, from New Orleans, Louisiana. I have worked as a lifeguard at the KAC since the beginning of my freshman year. On top of work, I am a captain of the Rugby Club, where I play scrum half, and I’m a writer for the Kenyon Thrill blog. I study Political Science and History, with a special interest in labor movements and welfare.
As a work-study student, my job is an essential part of my Kenyon experience. I was unfairly fired at the beginning of my sophomore spring, however, I did not realize the unfairness of my situation until after I started working with K-SWOC. After two delayed flight connections, I arrived late to campus the night before classes started. As a result, I missed the only lifeguard scheduling meeting, which determined all the shifts for the full year. I was left with only a few options, which ended up being two hours fewer of working time than the prior three semesters and the work-study minimum.
After signing up for shifts, I was never notified that my request had been accepted or when the work week would start. Because of this miscommunication, I missed my first shift the following day. The student head-guard notified me that I missed the shift, and I quickly apologized to my co-guard who had to work alone. All of this communication happened via email, where messages can get lost in the full inbox of an every-day college student.
As I prepared for my next shift, I— like many Kenyon students returning to campus during the cold winter months— became sick. I woke up that morning, after accidentally sleeping through all of my classes, with a high fever, body chills, and an email from my boss stating that, because I had missed my last two shifts, I had been taken off the work schedule for the rest of the semester. Feeling panicked, ashamed, and very ill, I immediately emailed the head-guard and explained what my boss had emailed me, as well as my current health situation. I apologized extensively and begged to be put back on the schedule. I was lucky; she told me that our boss couldn’t actually take me off the schedule because the pool was in need of lifeguards.
While it was my fault that I missed my shifts, these problems could have been avoided if the lifeguards had an equitable and accessible scheduling process (especially for work-study students); a better method of communication between the entire staff; sick days; and a clear list of employee expectations (there is no rule saying that, if you miss two shifts, you are fired). I support the union because an organized workplace will help the guards demand these necessary changes be made to ensure the community’s safety and our job security.
Rebecca Kornman ‘23, Lifeguard
“I think a union is essential for guaranteeing the voices of student workers being heard. Kenyon prides itself in its student's ability to self-advocate, yet they only care for this skill if it is utilized at an individual level. A union brings power to the voices of those who need it most -- student workers.”
Sajara Magdaleno Urqieta ’22, Senior Admissions Fellow and former Horn Gallery Sound Tech
Hi! I'm Maggie Foight (she/hers), and I'm a sophomore from Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania. At Kenyon, I'm studying English, Spanish, and Public Policy, and I compete on the College's swim team. I love to write, so I'm hoping to join Kenyon's student paper, The Collegian, this year.
On top of my academic and extracurricular life, I'm a second-year lifeguard at the KAC pool. I've safeguarded pools for five years now - but even when I'm not working, you can find me somewhere near the water. It's where I find my deepest calm and sincerest relief no matter what I'm doing. I'm a summer swim coach, I'm a private swimming lessons instructor, and I'm a competitive swimmer too! So, when I say that pool safety is something that directly and significantly impacts my life, I mean it. As someone who has grown up around pools and the water, it's fairly easy for me to determine which facilities have staff who feel uncomfortable or uneasy with their lifesaver statuses.
Though I feel that the majority of Kenyon guards are extremely competent in their skills, after talking with them over Zoom and other media, I can tell that they are concerned about COVID-19 and the possibility of contracting it on the pool deck or during a save. Additionally, my coworkers and I are worried about ensuring that we get enough hours to cover work-study costs, learning and enforcing CDC guidelines specific to the pool environment, and communicating well with our coworkers and our manager. All of these anxieties create preoccupation - and that preoccupation is a great threat to the safety of the KAC pool because it takes away from the strict focus that lifeguards are expected to have.
I am advocating for this union, then, because without the workplace protections and improvements that it supports, the pool will simply not be safe this year. The guards' employment at the KAC pool is invaluable, not only because we safeguard it. Simply put, we allow for the College to bring in money from the pool. Without us to prevent and attend to crises on deck, there could no longer be any profitable swim lessons, high school practices and meets, or club practices and meets. If there are no events to bring in money for the College, then the pool would be a financial drain (the chemicals and maintenance alone have an incredibly high cost, for those unaware). Moreover, seeing as the pool was recently constructed (within the past decade and a half), I don't see the College wanting to watch their investments turn sour. Therefore, the College should be seriously considering its KAC workers' demands - they need us.
K-SWOC has been crucial in the guards' banding together to advocate for our common concerns. Before the union, we all had our individual thoughts and worries, but we never had an outlet to voice them; we generally kept them to ourselves and there was no real possibility for change. However, the past few months have really reintroduced us to each other (the way guards work, we hardly ever see everyone in the same place) and we haven't been able to stay silent for a second on what we want to do to improve ourselves and our workplace. Instead of just being lifeguards, now we're a lifeguard TEAM - and that has made all the difference. To the union organizers: thank you.
Maggie Foight ‘23, Lifeguard
My name is Rachel Billings, my pronouns are she/her/hers, and I am a junior English major from Bronxville, NY. On campus, I am involved with The Long Dog Arts Collective, Kenyon Magnetic Voices, and The Crow's Nest.
I am not currently a student-worker, but I used to run a mixed martial arts class at the Kenyon Athletic Center. Never heard of it? There's a reason. I was given very few hours (two to be exact) for my class each week and it was so poorly advertised by the KAC that very few people even knew that it existed. Oftentimes, if there were any advertisements done from the KAC, it would be about the yoga classes. I have nothing against the yoga classes, I just wish that the other classes, and the workers teaching them, were given a little more attention.
My main reason for joining K-SWOC, however, is that many of my friends are student-workers who both have more serious grievances than I do and depend on their student-employment more than I do. I want to do everything that I can to help them and the other student-workers fight for their right to work in a safe and fair environment, and one that ensures the equal success of both the student-workers and the supervisors. There is a common misconception that because we are just part-time students, we have no right to complain about our working conditions. That is simply false. Many students rely on that source of income, and just because a student-worker "has it good" in some peoples' eyes doesn't mean that a situation can't be made better. In sum, I am a member of the K-SWOC team to help my fellow classmates and the future Kenyon student-workers fight for their voices to be heard regarding the matters that affect them the most.
Rachel Billings ‘22, Lowry Center
“Farm associates in this past semester have taken on the responsibilities of a full time Farm Manager since our boss left. Despite the additional responsibility, we have received nothing in terms of wages or support, on the contrary, these past months have illustrated to us that those that have the agency over the farm are not the people who live and work there, but a bureaucracy that only sees it in terms of brute economic calculus. A union will give a voice and agency over our workplace and our conditions within it, empowering us to manage the farm in a way that exemplifies our principles of sustainability and stewardship.
Djibril Branche ‘23, Farm Associate
Hello! My name is Alyssa Dowling (she/her/hers). I am a junior studying Political Science and Neuroscience. Outside of class I play rugby, volunteer in Knox County elementary schools, and work in the Writing Center.
While working in the Writing Center has been incredibly rewarding and has contributed to my growth as a writer, as a workplace it is not without room for improvement. The fact that there is a .5-credit class required in order to work as a Writing Center consultant means that many Kenyon students, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, cannot spare the requisite time in their academic schedule. Moreover, because the bulk of our training is unpaid and the hours are relatively limited, work at the Writing Center (along with many other jobs which look appealing on a resume) is impractical for students who rely on the income generated from their student employment. As a result, workplaces like the Writing Center suffer from a lack of socioeconomic diversity, hurting both low-income student workers and the broader student body that places like the Writing Center are supposed to serve. Through organizing with my fellow workers, it has become clear that those employed by the Writing Center care deeply about improving our accessibility for prospective consultants and consult-ees and about our ability to change our workplace for the benefit of ourselves and anyone who wants a little help with their writing.
While we are lucky enough to have a wonderful supervisor, most of the issues we have with our workplace and the changes we want to make are not in the hands of anyone with whom we have a direct line of contact. A union would give us the bargaining power to make changes in areas beyond those that our direct supervisor can control. With issues like pay, accessibility, and our ability to start a conversation about what a more efficient iteration of our training could look like, I believe that a union is the only way for us to have our voices heard. A union would provide us the ability to make concrete and lasting change, democratically, rather than leaving student workers at the whims of people who have little to no interactions with the workplaces to which they are handing down decisions.
Alyssa Dowling ‘22, Writing Center
“I think that during the last two years we’ve seen a lot of the ways that the administration arbitrarily makes decisions here at Kenyon without actually being in touch with workers’ conditions on the ground or the problems that workplaces have. The Kenyon Administration’s statements regarding the Kenyon Farm are a key example of this. K-SWOC provides students a mechanism to express their voices within this system in such a way that the administration is actually forced to listen to student voices. Quite frankly, I don’t think they would listen on their own if given a choice.”
Ethan McCullough ‘24, History Research Intern
My name is Alasia Destine-DeFreece (she/her/hers) and I'm a senior at Kenyon College. I'm a Modern Languages & Literatures major and have been taking Arabic alongside sociology and history. This past semester, I was grateful to study abroad in Amman, Jordan before the pandemic hit. In my time at Kenyon, I have been involved in Greek Life, a cappella, and various campus jobs. Since I spend most of my time in my workplaces, ensuring that they're healthy environments for myself and others is extremely important to me.
While applying to Kenyon, I knew that I would need to find at least one job on campus per semester. That being said, I wanted to find a job that I was passionate about and would want to continue through the entirety of my college career. I honestly found my passion at both the Gund Gallery and as a Community Advisor (CA). While I've felt very secure in my job at the Gallery, I've faltered a bit when it comes to my job as a CA due to lack of support and a general sense that I am seen as replaceable. I've genuinely enjoyed being a resource for my residents, as well as a source of emotional support, but I've often wondered how sustainable it can be to support my residents when I myself lack a workplace support system. In the past, ResLife has stressed the importance of "not pouring from an empty cup," but I didn't see this sentiment put into action until this summer, as my coworkers listened to each other in a genuine attempt to better each of our situations. Though we are Community Advisors, and we're meant to build the communities in our respective residential spaces, it was organizing that ultimately united every CA.
As of now, we've already seen what the power of collective action can do, and I'm happy to say that we've recently been promoted from the Tier II wage to Tier III. That being said, the tier system limits workers' abilities to negotiate pay raises, and is based on an arbitrary hierarchy created by the school that is used to further divide workers. In the future, I believe that a union will improve student workers' relationships with their employers by ensuring a mode of communication that is based on mutual respect and understanding of boundaries. Student workers are integral to the Kenyon community, and if employers are not willing to make that clear through fair compensation and treatment of employees, then it is up to us to stand up for our rights.
Alasia Destine-DeFreece ‘21, Gund Gallery and Admissions, former Community Advisor
My name is Michelle Hanna (she/her), and I am a third-year international studies major from Youngstown, Ohio. I am a member and recently elected Secretary-Treasurer of Kenyon Young Democratic Socialists of America. Before I switched to my current major, I was also involved in the Kenyon Physics department as a member of the Radio and Optical Astronomy Research (ROAR) group and the Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) Physics research group. During that time, I worked briefly as a physics grader, a trained radio pulsar data analyst, and a trained telescope observer.
I have taken courses in a variety of departments throughout the years, but Modern Languages & Literatures (MLL) is the one department I have not left for a single semester since I started at Kenyon. After two years of studying Arabic, I was hired as an Arabic Apprentice Teacher (AT) at the beginning of my junior year. Although I am passionate about the Arabic language and looked forward to the position as a personal learning opportunity, I was not under any illusion that my rights and my coworkers’ rights as student workers could be overlooked.
ATs, like all student workers, provide an invaluable service to the College. The MLL department, Master Teachers (MTs), and our students depend on ATs for practice and required assistance in their language classes. Because the AT program is an essential component of high-quality language education at Kenyon, it is important that the ATs who make it possible share a protected role in upholding the integrity and value of their work. Wage levels, training content, job security, transparency in the hiring process, and priority hiring for work-study students are among many issues that ATs care about and should have a part in shaping. This is not only because they pertain directly to our well-being, but also since we have a unique insight into what changes can enhance the experience of all those involved in the AT program, including language students and supervisors.
In my own experience, the training process consisted of guidelines and suggestions regarding language pedagogy, an overview of Google Meet functions for remote teaching, and a questions and answers format. Training normally goes beyond this, including a class observation of an experienced AT, but I did not have a chance to go through this part of the process since the semester during which I was supposed to be trained was disrupted by the pandemic. Even relying on a combination of this training and my own experience as a student of AT sessions, I usually prepared my classes for double or triple the amount of time I was allowed to be paid. I know from the conversations I had with other ATs that semester that I am not the only one who believes there is some disconnect between training and preparedness for the job. If I had gotten more training oriented toward preparation, for instance, then maybe I would not have needed to work so many unpaid hours just to provide the best experience possible for my students.
Structural reforms to training and other aspects of the program cannot be negotiated solely between supervisors and individual ATs. For workers, the greatest power derives from collective action. This is exactly what we as K-SWOC are working towards. No one knows the experiences of student workers more than the student workers themselves. Yet, we continue to be shut out of decision-making that is intended to help us support ourselves and thrive in our jobs. Only through a Student Workers Union can we achieve even a sliver of the democratic control we currently lack in our workplaces. We will not and must not stop fighting for a union.
Michelle Hanna ‘22
“Democracy, equity, and the empowerment of historically marginalized groups have been recurring themes in the classes I’ve taken as a student at Kenyon, no matter whether I was discussing Latin American poetry, global economic development, or contemporary social theory. These are principles that Kenyon claims to both deeply value and uphold, and my experiences in the classroom have largely aligned with them. However, as a Kenyon student worker, I have seen and been forced to navigate the significant gap that lies between Kenyon’s academic ideals and its actual practices as an institution. Kenyon student workers are undervalued, face unnecessary obstacles, and are too often disregarded in the moments when their perspectives and input should matter the most. The reality is that we (the student workers) are a vital organ in the body of the campus, and institutional-student employee relations must change so that we are considered and treated as such. Ultimately, I believe that union recognition is the only way that such a shift will happen”
Emmie Mirus ‘22, Apprentice Teacher and former Community Advisor
My name is Logan Snell, my pronouns are he/him/his, I’m a Junior, and I work at the Gund Gallery. Outside of my employment, I’m a Studio Art major, a kindergarten volunteer at Wiggin Street Elementary, and have a show on WKCO.
At the Gallery, I lead the Publications team— designing pamphlets, flyers, postcards, and other similar activities— for student-led exhibitions and programs. If these student-led exhibitions did not exist at the Gallery, full-time professional staff or freelancers would have to do the same work, and at a much higher rate of pay. Student workers save the college a lot of money, and yet are not fairly compensated for their work. For example, last year at the gallery, I was a Level 1 employee, meaning I made Ohio minimum wage, $8.55 an hour. Kenyon defines Level 1 employment as “positions [that] require little to no previous experience, education, special skills or training … are highly supervised … require little independent decision-making, and may require handling minimal amounts of money.”
Personally, I believe my job required a great deal of previous experience and special skills, training, and education. Had I not known how to use Adobe software beforehand, I do not believe I would have been hired. I also work almost completely independently and was never “highly supervised.” Additionally, I know for a fact my fellow co-workers handle works of art which far exceed what the college considers a “minimal amount of money.” In short, Kenyon’s wage tiers are arbitrary—the college’s own description of a Level 1 job does not match up with the skilled, diligent work that my fellow co-workers and I do as Level 1.
In every conversation I’ve had with my co-workers, they never fail to mention how much they appreciate the Gallery’s management. We are lucky to have managers who are respectful, understanding, and, most of all, receptive to students’ concerns. But this relationship with the management is in no way guaranteed or protected if the Gallery’s professional staff were to leave the college. A union of student workers could fix that concern. What’s more, with a union, we could guarantee that the strong, flexible relationship that we have with our managers will remains the same for all future employees, as well as give students across campus leverage to negotiate with less receptive bosses.
In closing, I want to speak to how invaluable organizing with fellow student-workers has been for me. Gund Gallery often employs over 60 students, who are further divided into smaller teams, meaning we are not able to get to know all of the workers. However, organizing has brought me closer to my fellow workers who I would have rarely interacted with otherwise and has given me the chance to hear their perspectives and concerns about our workplace. Additionally, organizing with students across campus has brought to my attention the many issues that student workers face and the lack of means for them to change anything. We have never had a proper outlet to express ourselves, our issues, and be heard, but K-SWOC is finally changing that. We know have a voice.
Logan Snell ‘22, Gund Gallery
“My name is Lily Beeson-Norwitz and I’m a junior from Portland, Ore., English major, and a work study student. In light of the ongoing conversations about student worker rights, I wanted to personally contribute and discuss why it is imperative that student workers deserve a fair wage and other rights that ensure their academic and personal success.
I’ve held several work study jobs during my time at Kenyon: Game day video streamer, writing center consultant, and Chinese AT sub. I come from a relatively upper middle class to middle class background, and I am still a work study student and on Kenyon financial aid. To preface, being middle class at Kenyon versus outside of Kenyon has different connotations—we all need to be aware of the relativity of a “middle class” status at Kenyon. At Kenyon, this socioeconomic status is not mutually exclusive to holding a work study status, yet there are economic privileges I am afforded that other work study students of a lower socioeconomic status than I do not have. In recognizing the intersection between these two categories and the complexity of the work-study-student identity, I want to be honest and transparent as to how my experience at Kenyon has been shaped by my experience as a work study student.
My primary work study job on campus is working at the writing center as a consultant, a tier two position that pays $10.03/hr before taxes. This semester, I am the writing consultant with the most walk-in shifts (4 hours per week), and I still struggle to make over $150 per pay period. In order to do so, I am extremely competitive in getting the additional hours that I need. Some strategies I use are picking up other people’s unwanted shifts, serving as a liaison for two intro level courses, holding a student manager position at the writing center, and mentoring two freshman students for the Kenyon Writes program.
Previous to this semester, I used to work in Athletics and as an AT sub; one semester, I worked all three positions. None of these positions even all at once gave me enough hours or an adequate hourly wage to satisfy the amount I needed for work study. This semester, I was able to quit my job at the Lowry Center, which was too low paying and scheduled inadequate and inconvenient hours for my schedule, because of my sticker-making business.
Selling stickers in Peirce at the Atrium tables has made me reflect upon my position as a work study student the most. The sticker business is to support my trip abroad next semester to Oxford, England, but it also helps me earn enough money that my job won’t pay me. Because I can earn up to almost as much as I do per two week pay period in one afternoon tabling at Peirce, I feel like I have a lot more financial freedom selling stickers. This allows me more autonomy to forge a path toward financial freedom, something Kenyon can’t provide me with; it gives me agency to determine how I want to work and distribute my labor. I think this is empowering to me as an individual, but it also indicates how broken the current employment system is for student workers looking to earn a fair and decent wage.
It's important for me as a writing center student worker to get paid a fair wage because it would alleviate a lot of anxiety about making enough per pay period. Because the pay rate is so low, I have to compensate for it by working extra using the methods described above. This causes me to sometimes prioritize work study over doing my school work so I can make enough. I used to feel like the only way I could be "fairly" compensated was to work multiple jobs, but I just ended up feeling overworked, indicating how your identity as a student worker comes before your identity as a student. The point is, I or any other student employed by Kenyon shouldn’t be in this compromised position of choosing work before ourselves; I shouldn’t be compelled to find ways to make enough money outside of the school’s employment system because of its failures to serve its students.
A fair wage means abolishing the tier system that Kenyon has established to undervalue some student worker positions below others; it entails rethinking what a fair wage is outside of this system. This has implications beyond student workers: it impacts other Kenyon staff who suffer from unfair wages as well. What is integral to this reformation is a fair election for a union to negotiate better wages, working conditions, hours, and overall treatment and respect.
Rather than dismissing the other calls to action students have made for this cause, the College must listen with empathy and compassion to how we can better our community. Uplifting and supporting changes to these systems is one way we can support our fellow Kenyon community members and students' wellbeing.”
Lily Beeson-Norwitz ‘23, Writing Center Consultant
My name is Jack Seasholtz, my pronouns are he/him/his, I am a junior, and I work as a desktop service assistant— also known as DSA— in the LBIS workforce. I study Economics at Kenyon, and I am a part of the Ultimate Frisbee team.
At my job, my supervisors are both fantastic people, very helpful and understanding. They created a really good work environment where I was able to learn a lot and also do valuable work at Kenyon. If I wasn't feeling well or just needed a mental health break, I always felt comfortable talking to them about it, or any other issues that came up. Even when we were all sent home because of the coronavirus, one of my supervisors still sent us emails just to check in on how we were doing.
As a member of the DSA, I update computers, install hardware, process old computers for recycling, among other various important tasks. This summer, I wasn't really sure was going to happen with my job in the fall, so like many other student-workers, I emailed my supervisor. Apparently, my position had been eliminated. This came as a surprise to me because I had received no communication about it previously. Fortunately, I was able to get my job back, but those few weeks were a little scary when I didn't know if I would be able to find employment elsewhere, especially because there aren’t many positions available for remote students. Had I not worked with other LBIS students from K-SWOC to open a discussion with out supervisors about these concerns, I do not think I would have gotten my job back.
In general, I believe that a union would help solve some of these communication lapses that I've been noticing throughout the past few months. The administration is unable to communicate properly to students about what is going on with their employment. For some members of the administration, student-workers are not a priority at all. Having a union could help prioritize student-workers in a more meaningful way. Additionally, a union would be something that has a lasting effect for student workers, in terms of maintaining our current benefits and gaining new benefits, like paid sick leave.
Jack Seascholtz ‘22, Digital Kenyon
During the summer of 2020, I came together with a group of fellow Community Advisors (CAs) to demand dignity and respect in our workplace. During the most uncertain moment of the pandemic, our supervisors ordered the entire CA team to return to Kenyon, expecting us to work under unsafe COVID-19 conditions without any additional protections or hazard pay. Having no other choice but to protect our health, we held numerous meetings with our supervisors, where we attempted to remind them of our value as people — a tactic that those of us from vulnerable and marginalized communities were unfortunately already familiar with. Collectively, CAs appealed for humane treatment, in the form of protections against COVID-19, a wage raise and a room at no cost.
However, our supervisors disregarded our safety and our dignity, arguing that CAs did not deserve improvements in the workplace. The College dismissed our plea for fairer wages on the grounds that our work was not valuable enough. It was humiliating for us, but we did not back down. We kept pushing: for another meeting, for another opportunity to advocate for our dignity, until, finally, our managers conceded to a portion of our most important demands. Our victory took the form of a raise to Tier 3 pay and a $1,000 room rate reduction.
While these changes may seem abstract and insignificant, the life-changing impact they had on my life cannot be overstated. The raise meant that I could finally afford a ticket to visit my family and my friends back home in Costa Rica after graduation, something I would have never been able to dream of under Tier 2 pay. Saving for this ticket would take time, but a Tier 3 wage made it a possibility.
More immediate aspects of my experience at Kenyon were transformed as well: After spending most of my Kenyon career wearing passed-down, damaged clothes, including shoes with open holes during the winter, I was able to finally buy my own clothing. For the first time in my life here, I was able to walk around Middle Path without having to worry about frostbite from the extremely low temperatures of an Ohio winter. Not only that, but at last I was able to present myself in a way that felt dignified and true to my identity, which drastically improved my emotional and mental health. I felt like a new person and now am finally able to feel like myself, and it was all because I took collective action with my coworkers.
But this was only the beginning. On Oct. 14 of this year, 137 student workers voted to file for an official NLRB election to be held as soon as possible. This election will be open to every student worker on campus, regardless of affiliation with K-SWOC, in order to decide whether or not they want a union to represent them in their jobs at Kenyon. If K-SWOC wins, every single student worker at Kenyon will have the opportunity to sit at the bargaining table as equals with the College’s administration, and demand justice in their workplace. A living wage, back pay for chronic wage theft, protection from abusive management and any other change student workers dream of is anything but abstract. Improvements in the workplace take many different forms each day, such as being able to afford your own medication or that of a family member, helping your family pay for food and rent and paying your student loans. It also means being able to purchase art supplies to continue working on your passion projects, visit your loved ones after years of being on the other side of the world and staying warm through the winter.
Kenyon’s administration is doing everything in its power to prevent you and your coworkers from living a dignified life. Immediately after K-SWOC filed to hold a community election, Kenyon turned to Jones Day, a highly expensive and notoriously anti-union law firm. In an attempt to undermine Kenyon’s democracy, Jones Day has filed a motion to prevent or delay student workers from voting in a democratic community election. Due to the absurdity of Kenyon’s legal arguments, the administration will succeed only in delaying the election, not preventing its eventual fruition. Everything the College is doing to prevent this election is rooted in fear. They are deathly afraid that you and I will continue to stand with each other in the same way that my fellow CAs and I did back in the summer of 2020.
The administration’s hope is that you will believe that a union is too abstract to ever be worth fighting for. But a union is only abstract until it changes your life. Before my raise last summer, I too found it hard to believe that a union could improve my life. But now that I have experienced firsthand the joy and dignity of collective labor action, no law firm will sap me of my will to see myself and my coworkers live dignified lives at this College. If you are privileged enough to not need these changes, think of how it could change the lives of people at Kenyon that you love. Above everything else, voting yes in this upcoming election is voting for justice. Voting yes is not just about changing one’s life — it’s about changing the entire living experience of every single student worker at Kenyon. Of low-income students. Of students that are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Of international students.
As long as we continue to organize with each other to challenge this anti-democratic administration, we will win our right to a union election. When that hard-won election day comes, I urge you to believe in your right to a dignified life. Vote for union recognition, and win for yourself the life you deserve.
John Ortiz ‘22, Community Advisor
My name is Logan Reimbold-Thomas (he/him/his), and I’m a junior majoring in Political Science. I sing with the Kokosingers and Chamber Singers, and play club ultimate frisbee with Kenyon Serf. I’m also a work-study student with two on-campus jobs––as a tour guide in the admissions office, and as a lead tutor for economics in the Math and Science Skills Center (MSSC) I’ve worked for the college during Senior Week/commencement and reunion weekend as well.
I love both my jobs. I’ve held both since the beginning of my sophomore year, and I hope to keep both of them until I graduate. Tutoring my peers is incredibly gratifying and validating work; showing off Kenyon, a place that I love, to visitors can be great fun, too. I take pride in the fact that my work is essential to the Kenyon community, in both contexts. The MSSC is the only non-faculty resource on campus that students can go to for help with STEM and QR classes. The admissions office relies heavily on student workers to bring in prospective students. Time and again, I’ve heard from visitors that Kenyon’s student-led tours stand out from those at other colleges, or that their tour really “made the difference” in deciding to apply or enroll. Unfortunately, my work is not usually made to feel essential to Kenyon’s operations.
To start, they don’t pay me like it. Kenyon expects me to earn $2000 a year through work-study; with two jobs (one Tier II and one Tier III) last year, I made less than half of that. In fact, only a handful of jobs are available to students that pay enough to meet that expectation. Kenyon’s pay system and work-study policy frequently forces work-study students like me to choose between a high paying job we don’t want and taking on extra loans so we can work the job we do want. Sometimes, we can’t even get the high paying job if we want it! This is Kenyon signalling that our work is not essential.
Until I started working with K-SWOC, I didn’t feel like there was anything I could do but feel upset about the way the college handles student employment. While my bosses at admissions and the MSSC are always happy to talk with me about workplace issues, as an individual worker I’m hardly able to secure a campus-wide pay raise or ensure that work-study students like myself are offered enough hours to pay what is expected of us. But a student worker union could accomplish those things and more.
I support a union because it could ensure priority hiring for low-income students. It could make Kenyon guarantee pay to remote workers again. It could pressure Kenyon into paying work-study students enough to meet their expectations. Most importantly, I support a union because it would force Kenyon to break from its typical pattern and actually listen to the voices of its students.
Logan Reimbold-Thomas ‘22, Admissions
My name is Benjamin Brumley (he/him/his). I am a junior studying History, and I work as a Scanning/Filing Assistant in the Advancement Division. Additionally, I write for the News section of the Kenyon Collegian. This summer I had the privilege of working (digitally) as a research assistant through Kenyon’s Summer Scholars program in Socio-Legal Studies.
My experience as a student worker began when I noticed that some of the funds on my Financial Aid form were listed as Work-Study. Browsing what was then Symplicity (now Handshake), I found my position and sent in a resume and cover-letter. I began working in the division about a week or two into my first year. During my time as a student worker, my experiences have generally been positive. My supervisors have been accommodating through both the high and low points of my time at Kenyon. My hours have been flexible and the work expected of me has been reasonable. Additionally, the income has been a valuable asset to my life on campus.
Despite my positive personal experience, I have come to see that there are a myriad of issues about student employment that need to be addressed. COVID-19 and the remote semester have merely brought these long-standing issues into prominence. For instance, my work was easily moved online. However, how would that work for jobs for which online work would be difficult, if not impossible? As it relates to work study, there are a number of inconsistencies inherent in college policy. As I mentioned earlier, the College assigns a number to the work study allocation. This number is far more complicated than most of the others included in the same document. The number of allocated hours and even pay varies from position to position. All this exists under a system that naturally benefits the College. I recognize the fact that while I have personally had little issue with my work, there are others who have not had that luxury. It is important to stress just how important Work Study is to many students on Campus. It is, after all, a form of financial aid and provides a helpful source of income. Moreover, it is merely one institution among the complex environment of on-campus employment. Thus, a holistic approach to improving conditions, especially in the wake of all that has happened to the campus environment in recent months, is now more necessary than ever.
A Student Workers Union is a critical addition to the campus environment. It provides a means by which student workers can underscore their necessity. Without student workers, the College could not function at the level it does now. A union will allow us to negotiate on our own terms. It will amplify the oft-unheard concerns held by many students on a large scale. Above all, it will be the most efficient way to bring about much needed institutional change. I encourage both the administration and any students who are unsure to empathize with the points that have been raised by their fellow community members. This Union is as crucial to the campus environment and its well-being as the countless other organizations that presently exist.
Benjamin Brumley ‘21, Scanning/Filing Assistant in the Advancement Division
My name is Gretchen Feil (she/her/hers) and I’m going to be a junior this fall. I’m an MLL major studying Spanish and Russian, and am also involved in many organizations on campus. I’m a member of several student groups, such as Student Council’s Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, the harp ensemble, and Kenyon Students for Justice in Palestine, among others.
On top of these extracurriculars, I also have to make time for work, as I’m on work study in order to help afford my education. This has proved difficult, as job stability and fair compensation are hard to come by at Kenyon. I have been both an Apprentice Teacher (AT) and a Community Advisor (CA) at Kenyon, but have had issues with job stability in both work places. Late this summer, Reslife invited all CAs back to campus, regardless of class year, in order to work and provide support in our residential communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. This proved to be a financial hardship for many Junior and Senior CAs, as we would actually be losing money to work our jobs on campus because we would have to pay for room and board. On top of that, we would still be taking remote classes without the academic or social benefits of a more typical school year. Our supervisors responded negatively when we tried to explain that our compensation lacks basic benefits that RAs have at many other colleges, such as free room and board on top of higher wages (Kenyon CAs earn low wages and receive a room cost reduction that when combined barely even cover the price of a double room).
In one of the many conversations held with our supervisors and the administration regarding these topics, Vice President Meredith Harper Bonham stated that “it's really difficult to provide one particular group [the CAs], with an additional form compensation when we're not doing it for others, because you can well imagine it's a bit of a slippery slope, when we start getting into that.” Furthermore, we were told by VP Bonham that the college’s decision to withhold fair wages and benefits is not “a result of the college’s financial situation,” meaning the college has the ability to pay students fairly, it just chooses not to. Instead of underpaying groups such as the CAs in the name of “equality” because other student workers are also underpaid (as members of the administration seem to allude to openly), the college should lift up all student workers and pay us what we deserve, especially when it has been made clear that Kenyon has the financial means to do so. Why would members of the administration fear a “slippery slope” that leads to equity, fair compensation, and just treatment in the workplace?
Since the college has made it clear that they do not wish to fully value and respect student workers, we must collectively organize to form a union of student workers. If there were a union on campus, all student workers would be able to collectively bargain for what they deserve in relation to the labor that we provide for the college. While not done through a union, after several weeks of negotiations and organizing, the CAs were able to gain a raise of about $1.50 and hour and were given a further reduction on the cost of our rooms. These results prove the success of collective action, which will increase enormously when done through a union that represents all student workers. We are proud of the gains made through our organizing, but they were not enough, and ¼ of the CAs, including myself, are unable to work this semester because we cannot afford to essentially pay the college to have the ability to work our jobs. In addition to many of us losing our main source of income, we were also given no guarantee that we will get our jobs back in future semesters. Once the college recognizes a union for student workers on campus, issues like these can be fought, or even prevented, and our ability to fight for fair labor practices, compensation, and treatment in the workplace will increase tremendously.
Gretchen Feil ‘22, Apprentice Teacher
My name is James Henderson (he/him/his) and I am a sophomore lifeguard and incoming liaison at the Writing Center. While I plan on majoring in political science, I have a wide array of academic interests, including religious studies, history, psychology, and scientific computing. In addition, I’m involved in environmental conservation in the BFEC (with the Kenyon Land Lords), intramural tennis, and Open Doors College Prep, a Kenyon organization that provides tutoring to at-risk youth in Mount Vernon.
Kenyon is known for its swimmers, and many students use the KAC for recreation and exercise. Without student lifeguards, Kenyon would no longer be able to host swimming events, and many students would no longer be able to use the pool. We lifeguards allow for the safe use and enjoyment of the beautiful Kenyon pool. Likewise, Kenyon is known for its English program and writing in general. Getting advice from skilled writers is a helpful learning experience, and I’m confident that the Writing Center plays a critical role in the development of many writers at Kenyon.
My primary goal in writing this statement is to stand in solidarity with student workers who rely on their on-campus income, including students on work-study, self-supporting students, and low-income students. After hearing some of these students talk about how their concerns have been disregarded by their employers (among other issues), it has become clear to me that a student worker organization will play an important role in making Kenyon more equitable and accessible. As a lifeguard and writing center employee, I have noticed that these positions have limited accessibility. To become a lifeguard, you must obtain a lifeguard certification. Lifeguard certification classes can cost hundreds of dollars and require many hours of training. At a pay rate of $9.92 per hour—which, by the way, is below a living wage in Ohio—it can be difficult to even recover the costs of the training, let alone support yourself. Writing Center employment has the same problem, to an even greater degree. In order to work as a walk-in consultant in the writing center, a student must first take a full .5 unit course to receive the proper training. A course at Kenyon costs a great deal of money and time. Again, earning back the cost of the course would be extremely difficult at $9.92 per hour. Training-intensive student labor can be undervalued in Kenyon workplaces. The training required for lifeguarding and working in the writing center, coupled with the low pay that these positions provide, means that these positions are often not realistic choices for students who rely on Kenyon employment for their income.
James Henderson ‘23, Lifeguard and Writing Center