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Yale protestors seek more aid
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by Caitlin Kiley
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Students at Yale University criticized the school’s financial-aid programs in a protest Feb. 24.
Outside the Yale admissions building, more than 100 students and campus visitors looked on as a group of 15 students demonstrated through a sit-in, according to Undergraduate Organizing Committee member Joshua Eidelson.
Members of the Yale’s UOC demanded to meet with the President Richard C. Levin, though Levin refused to meet with the students throughout the day.
According to Gila Reinstein, assistant director of public affairs at Yale, Levin had alluded to upcoming improvements in financial aid in a forum just two days before the protest.
Phoebe Rounds, a member of the UOC, said she looked forward to discussing changes in financial aid at the forum.
UOC members, who had proposed a platform for financial-aid reform in October, said they made numerous attempts to meet with Levin over the course of four months, but Levin was unresponsive.
But some students felt the forum did not answer their questions.
According to Rounds, students who expressed frustration over working long hours to cover tuition costs were treated like they were exceptions.
“He was very disrespectful,” Rounds said. “Levin said ‘that’s only a couple hundred students,’ as if a couple hundred students on this campus are not worthy of his concern.”
According to Rounds, the administration waited until the media left to close the admissions building, when police arrived in an unmarked car and arrested the students.
However, the arrests did not dampen the morale of students.
Eidelson said the sit-in was a success since students demonstrated a new breadth and depth of student support.
“We took our message to new audiences among prospective students and the national media,” Eidelson said. “We leveraged greater pressure on Levin and the Yale Corporation.”
Rounds said she saw the protest as a positive message.
“This demonstrates the extent to which a lot of students are united behind this,” Rounds said. “We see this as something we’re excited about. We care about the university … and that’s why we’re fighting.”
According to Eidelson, the school’s lack of economic diversity is another major factor fueling a push for financial-aid reform.
“It becomes problematic when Yale fashions leaders from a group of students who don’t look very much like America,” Eidelson said. “It’s an issue that affects everyone, that’s why we remain hopeful Yale will come around and come to a policy that reflects better values for the university.”
Students also stated Yale’s financial aid did not match that of rival schools like Princeton and Harvard.
Princeton University prides itself on a unique “no-loan policy” initiated in 2001. Through the program students can combine a campus job with a grant instead of taking out a loan, allowing them to graduate without any debt.
The number of Princeton students on financial aid rose from 38 percent to more than 50 percent since 1998, making Princeton the Ivy League school with the highest percentage of students on financial aid.
And Princeton and Harvard both saw boosts in the number of admissions applicants this year — Princeton up 17 percent from last year and Harvard up 15 percent.
However, Yale’s financial-aid woes are necessarily reflected around the country.
Steve Van Ess, UW director of Student Financial Services, remains optimistic about UW’s ability to support low-income students through its financial-aid programs. He said the university has a lot to offer its needy students with the Financial Aid Security Track program, known as FASTrack.
FASTrack targets the UW’s most needy students through a contract providing financial aid in return for work-study.
Van Ess said FASTrack currently has 600 participants each year, though he added the program is unable to provide for all of UW’s needy students.
“We just don’t have enough money to have it be as big as we’d like it to be,” Van Ess said. “But I think it’s a good program.”
Anonymous (March 3, 2005 @ 9:36am):
Cry me a river, you yellow-bellied Yalies.
Anonymous (March 3, 2005 @ 2:28pm):
i guess they should keep tuition jacked up so only dumb loaded rich kids can go there. because smart poor kids shouldn't have the chance to get a decent education. ass.
