By Ameer Abedy and Ülvi Gitaliyev
On March 16th, United Student Workers of Berea (USWB), affiliated with the Communication Workers of America (CWA), announced their unionization campaign in Berea College. Berea College, a work college consortium, requires students to hold labor positions along with their academic duties. The aforementioned positions can range anywhere from manual labor, such as being a janitor or farmworker, to holding administrative, managerial duties, such as the Student Government Association. The fourth Great Commitment of Berea College, “The Dignity of Labor” states that “At Berea, we don’t just admit students-we hire them.” The college claims that the purpose of the labor program is to develop students’ work ethic and contribute to their future career development. Still, many students see the program as more of a burden on their academic performance, rather than a benefit to it.
When I heard about the union organizing on campus, I knew I wanted to help right away and try to make the Labor Program better
Hayden Roberts, Berea College student
Students interested in unionizing discovered a whole host of issues in the Labor Program, ranging from below minimum wage pay for most labor positions to lack of respect from supervisors. Students hope that by unionizing, the administration will do the right thing and sit down with student workers at the decision-making table to collectively bargain a first contract. Hayden Roberts, a student and former lifeguard at Berea College, spoke to The Berea Torch about his reasons for joining the USWB-CWA:
“I’ve always been a supporter of unions, they are a huge part of why this country has a 5-day work week, minimum wage and somewhat reasonable work hours. When I heard about the union organizing on campus, I knew I wanted to help right away and try to make the Labor Program better for students and make Berea as a college a better place.
At my first job as a Lifeguard, my first supervisor quit halfway through the year, and we just had to keep the pool running without a supervisor with students doing the work of the full time supervisor we were supposed to have. I was even forced to come in on my own time to train new freshmen who had never been lifeguards before, even though we had staff who were supposed to be in charge of certifying new lifeguards.
For me, the Union represents an opportunity for students to actually have a voice. By having a union, we can actually protect students and help them.”
Hayden Roberts, Berea College student
The student workers’ organizing committee (OC) spent over 18 months building their union by talking with hundreds of coworkers. Much of the energy for the union comes from the Organizing Committee. There, students and USWB-CWA staff, including Berea alumni, coordinate outreach plans and plan a union campaign. One OC member and Berea College student, Steven T. Lintelman-Nader, spoke on why he joined the OC:
“I joined the organizing committee, because I saw how little options other students had with their work – especially Freshman. Sure, if you are lucky, you could switch jobs after a few months, but that didn’t mean you were guaranteed a safe, respectful labor position.
Being part of the Organizing Committee let me actively try to make things better around campus. I came to Berea on board with the idea of working instead of drowning in loans, but that doesn’t mean the Berea College Labor Program is perfect.”
Steven T. Lintelman-Nader, Berea College student
One task accomplished by the OC was the formulation of a Mission statement. This includes context for the need of an independent organization of student workers and their vision for a better Berea College Labor Program. The following full list of points is taken directly from the Mission Statement, which says that “the following should be among the rights of all Berea College student workers:”
- A formal grievance system to resolve workplace issues in a timely manner with union representation.
- Wages that enable all students to afford basic necessities and have financial security post-graduation.
- Negotiable job contracts with clear guidelines, expectations, and agreed-upon hours and scheduling.
- Training programs, specific to each labor position, that cover all information necessary to perform our jobs as well as adequate resources to ensure safe working conditions in every workplace.
- Accommodations for students with differences in ability that support their growth and success in the workplace.
- Enforcement of the College’s policies prohibiting harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
- Full-time employee staffing that meets the needs of each department and enables labor supervisors to be consistent, clear, and intentional with student workers.
- Opportunities for leadership and skill development in every workplace so that student workers’ positions contribute to their professional growth.
I came to Berea on board with the idea of working instead of drowning in loans, but that doesn’t mean the Berea College Labor Program is perfect.”
Steven T. Lintelman-Nader, Berea College student
At the time of publishing, Berea College has made no official comment about the unionization effort. Still, the college might respond by sending out a campus-wide statement claiming the union is a third party, or that there are already systems in place to deal with labor issues. They may even do what some other colleges have done in the face of union campaigns — hold captive audience meetings while student workers work to pressure them to vote no. If the USWB-CWA hopes to win a future union election, they will need steadfast and public support from members and allies to stem the tide against such anti-union messaging. For student workers to win a seat at the table, they will need help from alumni and community support.
The campaign is inviting student workers to sign cards and the Mission Statement to show their support for the union. They plan to demand that the administration voluntarily recognize the union, be neutral, and bargain in good faith. At that point, the administration can either voluntarily recognize the union or require that they go to the National Labor Relations Board for a formal election, and they can decide to be neutral and not interfere with student workers’ right to a free and fair election. If a majority of student workers vote yes, they will have won their union. Once the administration recognizes the workers or workers win the election, they will democratically elect a committee of their coworkers across all departments to form a bargaining committee. They will be supported by a representative from CWA and will sit down with management to bargain out a contract. Once they tentatively agree upon a contract, all union members will vote on whether or not to approve it. After the contract is negotiated, members will elect representatives to help uphold the contract and support workers with any challenges. Non-students can support the union by signing this petition, urging the college to stay neutral and bargain with the USWB-CWA in good faith.
95 responses to “United Student Workers of Berea-CWA Announce Union Campaign at Berea College, Kentucky”
Well-written summary, yet I’m curious why the article ends with such a down-spirited note. “This college might respond by…” The campaign elements seem reasonable, why not highlight the positive ways the college could respond? What do the organizers *hope* will happen? Let’s stay positive!
Work is a requirement for a debt free education. If students strike -quit working- are they allowed in class during that time? No work, no school.
Quick question: how much are the union dues?
Dues are only $1.30 per hundred dollars you earn. That is the total cost.
Thats $1.30 that could be used toward being able to “afford basic necessities and have financial security post-graduation” considering just how much money they are paying for their loans, housing, food, or any other loans that are not having to be paid for now or later.
What are your priorities?
Then start charging tuition to the union members, whose brains are 18-22 yrs old and not developed. Berea decided to go the fashionable woke route a couple decades ago….you reap what you sow.
Berea has been “woke” sense its inception, are you just realizing this now?
Amen!!
That idea was developed by the gerontocracy to dismiss the voices and concerns of the youth. History is littered with 18-22 years olds leading an army or developing general relativity. The life expectancy in the 19th century was 28-32. Do you really think the vast majority of humans died before their brains develop?
Go read the history of Berea and what our beloved academic institution represents before you toss around terms like “woke” in your response.
Berea College ’97
You guys are soft. Good luck in the real world!!
PS there are a lot of college options that don’t require you to work. Go find one.
I’m so glad unions don’t exist in the real world. I don’t know how you’d be able to get up in the morning knowing that unions exist, what a scary reality…
Every single work-study college should have a student workers union.
This is ridiculous! Go to your job. Don’t complain. You are receiving an excellent education that will open doors for you for the rest of your life! Your work experience may be as important as education!
You don’t need a union!
Such a great idea!
As an alumnus, I would say about 70% of jobs in Berea are just pointless, busy work. Work for the sake of “working.” The best time I ever had in Berea was at the college farm. That was the only time in college I FELT I mattered. I fed the pigs. I fed the chicken. I collected the eggs. I sold them. I had a great impact. The only downside was that it was very tiring. I fell asleep once I got back to the dorm.
For all other “jobs,” I had no idea what I was doing, seriously, and neither did my “supervisors.” I was asked to create web pages nobody ever bothered to read. I wrote stuff that nobody gonna care about. I was asked to generate ideas just for the sake of “working.” You go there. Clock in. Do stuff that nobody cares about. I was fired for clocking in from my room, lol. Remote work before COVID. The truth is, the college doesn’t have enough jobs for all students. If they have any concerns for students, they can cut the hours in half without affecting any administrative functions. The vast majority of students are forced to sit there and use phones. They should begin with the question, “Where is the labor genuinely needed?” instead of grabbing ten arbitrary hours per student and spending it with a use-it-or-lose-it mentality. In the so-called “real world,” worker productivity is paramount.
You should also explore the idea that most classes are a form of unpaid labor. It strikes me as queer that someone who calls himself prof can snatch hours out of your day. You can be Issac Newton and get an F in Calculus if you are absent for a few days or forgot to do pointless work assigned by the master (prof). I would be okay with attendance and the work if it’s carefully thought out. But most assignments at Berea are assigned “anyhow” and graded “anyhow” (without a shred of concern for your time, just like the labor). Berea, to me, was a food bank version of “education.” A bunch of people decide what you do for every part of your day and every day of your four years. Well, you can’t complain if you aren’t paying.
^^^ this. When I was a student worker it felt like my work was rarely my supervisors’ priority. My first year I worked in an office and received no training but was told to answer the phone and field questions from angry parents. I would have loved to gain real skills and to have been doing real work, but I mostly just sat a desk and refilled the candy basket! I feel like clear guidelines, training requirements, and adequate staffing would have really helped me make the most of my jobs at Berea!
Side note: College staff need a union, too! They are torn in so many different directions and expected to work waaay past 40 hours/5 days per week.
I don’t know about staff, but the college literally functions as a union of faculty. Professors meet and vote for everything.
All curriculum materials (e.g., how many GSTR, what perspectives) are decided by the faculty assembly (~150 profs). General college administrative functions are chosen by the general assembly (about 250 people, including all faculty, most staff, and 3-12 student reps). If student reps do attend that assembly, perhaps they would form 1-3% of the vote. Most student reps are elected based on popularity rather than campaign promises, as everyone is busy with the workload. Nobody cares or is even paid enough to care what’s happening. In addition, a lot of what matters to the college experience aren’t even put to vote (or had been put to vote long ago that students can never expect to alter).
If the union effort is successful, you guys should ask for a student bloc at the general and faculty assemblies (perhaps it should become a student-faculty assembly). The current ratio looks like a faculty cartel running the college for themselves and their retirement. There is zero sense of responsibility and accountability on the part of the faculty. As I wrote elsewhere, the workload is atrocious, and the results are all negative. Forget about EKU, UK, or UoL (all of which outperform Berea); even Sterling College from Kanas has about 10-20% higher post-graduate median income than Berea. They are as poor, have 18 average ACT (24 for Berea!), work far less, and have no cash-cow programs like Nursing.
Students should be about 35% of the assembly. There should be dedicated, conflict resolution procedures which can be escalated to a neutral thrid party to resolve greviences regarding labor and class grades, workload, and others.
Sterling is 30,000 a year. Clearly the students are not THAT poor.
That’s the sticker price. Berea’s sticker price is 52k. Average graduation debt is 25k. Not a bad deal given 20 avg ACT (25 for Berea) and 5k higher median income. The higher earning cancels out debt in 4 years.
Berea graduation debt is not 25,000 on average. You literally made that up. You must be one of those not really poor students that sneak into Berea.
Sterling College’s graduation debt is 25k. You would know if they taught you how to read.
And Berea’s is zero.
Let them pay for their education then. Let’s see 5.00 an hour to you for a few hrs or whatever they are paid and a free education verses thousands for tuition. No common sense today from some people. But then they want everything handed to them and not work for anything.
Yes!!!!! Exactly what I was thinking!
Estimated average cost of a US private liberal arts college tuition ’23-24 = $65k annually… Divided by 9 months = $7,222.22 per month… Divided by 40 hours (10 hr. per week required labor) = $180.56 saved by the student for every hour of work performed. *Does not include any subsidized room & board many students receive.
To anyone who believes trying to unionize Berea College students because of “exploitation” is a good idea, it is an insult to the donors and alumni who believe in the importance of the “dignity of work and contributing one’s labor to sustaining the dream of an affordable education”. Go Woke, Go Broke.
Go woke go broke. Amen!! These attitudes and ideas will ruin a great thing.
Well, if you are an alumnus, donating in an environment where students are powerless is the same as throwing money into the pit. It’s much better to write a check to your favorite profs. At least, you can ensure that only the good ones benefit and the bad ones don’t.
Berea is free because students work, not because the college does anything, nor because of the donations. Federal and state grants alone provide a 30m budget, more than enough to run a Berea-sized college. Say you need 150 profs & 100 supporting staff. 250 x 90,000$ a year = 22.5 million. Utilities, maintenance, and other bills = 4 million. Twenty-six million for a budget-friendly college. That’s how many colleges operate. In addition, those colleges tend to outperform Berea in terms of post-graduation outcomes because professors were hired for their intellectual rigor and ability to teach, not based on politics, nepotism, or other criteria (what happens when students are powerless).
For Berea’s demographics, you can get free tuition at almost any work college or at any in-state college with part-time work. Other colleges have a more balanced representation of the rich and poor. Poor students have free or practically free tuition with federal and state grants. Wealthy students, whom Berea doesn’t admit, pay some tuition. So, they aren’t labeled as “free-tuition” colleges but practically the same as Berea. By being supposedly “free tuition,” Berea collects donations with impunity.
Your donations worsen the oppression because the more you donate, the higher the incentives to maintain the status quo. I remember professors were fighting against 1$ increase in student paychecks as their lives depended on it. A 1$ increase means just 120$ more spending per semester per student and just 240$ annually. 240*1500 = 360,000, just 0.3% of Berea’s annual budget. Why the hell did they fight so hard other than jealousy and meanness? All other work colleges pay students higher than Berea. Students’ paychecks have kept up with neither inflation nor endowment size.
How do the students having “power” or not impact the caliber of professors? And how are professors hired at Berea via nepotism? The truth is, many professors at Berea could make a lot more at larger State schools but teach at Berea because they agree with the mission. And, if Berea has “worse” post graduation statistics it is because they cater to low income students who frankly have a harder time building wealth anyway. Generational poverty is a thing and I cannot believe someone who goes to Berea doesn’t understand that.
Your math is also WAY off. You cannot just look at Professors pay. You also need to look at benefits and pensions, you need to look at the cost of upkeep of the campus, you need to look at insurance costs, extracurriculars, awards and so many other expenses. You clearly do not understand the economics of the school.
“Profs are “underpaid” and taking a wage penalty to “teach” at Berea is one of the “civilizing mission” style lies profs love to tell themselves. The truth is that Berea’s Board of Trustees tracks a sample of colleges in the region and keeps salaries up with those colleges. That has been told to profs over and over, but the “underpaid to civilize” narrative never disappears.
Berea functions like a refugee camp for failed academics. If not for Berea, many would be adjuncts somewhere. At least, they would be held accountable for what they teach (from my experience, adjuncts at Berea perform better than tenured faculty). Post-graduation salaries are the only objecitve measure we have, because Berea’s faculty would fight against any objective measure. They are perfectly valid.
Berea’s worse post-graduation statistics are because of bad so-called “teaching.” The gap is the largest in first-year post-graduation and narrows as time progresses, as PTSDs acquired from classes wean off and students begin to learn useful materials by themselves. The so-called “generational” poverty disappears at all other colleges except for Berea. Then, isn’t it better to shut down the college to fight poverty in Appalachia?
If anything, my math is overly generous. The actual salary is 75k but I gave 90k to make up for benefits. Staff aren’t paid half of that. You don’t need that many profs as well. As far as students are concerned, one great prof is better than 100 bad ones, but numbers are emphasized (to build a refugee camp and keep staff and students in check). I gave 4m for utilities and insurance and still have 4m left.
Another thing is that most students, if they have a voice, would absolutely be OK with increasing salaries to attract much more qualified professors. The ones against it are profs themselves. You can imagine the jealousy and infighting the moment they find out someone earning more. So, we have the same salary for all professors of the same rank (!!!). Completely unthinkable elsewhere.
That creates a lot of problems. For some competitive majors like nursing, all you attract are refugees, and non-refugees don’t last long at this college. They feel exploited as demoralized (as they command better salaries in the industry or elsewhere in the academia).
Let’s consider UK. Even with a department, there are so much variation in terms of salaries for professors of the same rank.
PTSD from classes? You are not a serious person and you are incapable of having a serious conversation.
Sorry that YOU did not have a good experience post Berea. That is more of a you thing than the fault of the school or the professors. Own your own failure. Due in part to my time at Berea, I have a job I love and make 6 figures. If you want to blame the professors for your own failure then I thank them for my successes.
Most professors at most schools spend more time researching than teaching, and they have TAs do all the work. You might know that if you were actually looking at the topic from a serious point of you. But you are instead throwing random arguments that have nothing to do with the topic at hand because you have a chip on your shoulder.
Who are you? A DEI hire that spout garbage? I earn twice more than you do. I also have friends who are in similar positions. We can all agree Berea teach garbage.
More likely some white trash. Hillbilly reputation is often well-deserved.
Triggered by civilizing mission analogy.
How about you tell me your name. An independent third party will verify the paychecks. Whoever higher would fly and punch the fk out of the one higher?
Sure. What is your name if you are so badass?
You make twice more than me, but all I said is I make six figures? So you have an imaginary salary that it somehow no matter what twice as much as mine? So you went to Berea, somehow have a great job with a magically expanding salary, and yet Berea and the professors are somehow ruining the futures of students? Believe it or not, the vast majority of people who graduate from undergrad are going to struggle a bit after graduating. Sorry if you thought you would have a one way ticket to the top after a undergraduate degree. But that isn’t how it works. So either you have a great post Berea life in which case, please remember to thank Berea. Or, you (more likely) have done nothing since graduation and are now bitter and taking it out by attacking the school. Am I engaging in the debate? Sure, but that is to defend an institution I love. YOU however are spending your time bitchy about a school you don’t even go to anymore. If you have a good job like you pretend that is pretty pathetic, and if you don’t have one then that is even worse.
I shared my opinion. You jumped into random docussion online and calling others unemployed and bloasting your paycheck. That’s your smalldickenergy talking, Mr White Trash. Your salary is white privilege doing the work, not you. I finally made it, but there were people who didn’t, and the conditions at the college are responsible. So, I shared what they are and suggest improvements. So you don’t like it, you can gfys.
And exactly HOW is the college responsible? Sorry your life
sucks.
My life is a million times better than white trash, sadly. YT sucks and white trash especially sucks. YTs can gfys.
White devils suck. They never teach you decency and etiquette. The subhuman, genocidal evil. I feel sorry for everything blacks and native Americans went through under these chimps.
Sorry if Berea was too hard for you, dear. Sorry is post Berea life was even harder.
Sorry that they didn’t teach you common decency and you chimpout on the internet. Sorry that you can’t even tell your name and let an independent party verify both incomes. Sorry for attending the same “college” with such a low-life coward keyboard warrior.
I said tell me your name. An independent party will verify the paycheck. Whoever bigger should punch the shit out of the one lower. Stop hiding like a coward and insulting others.
I didn’t insult anyone. I just said a very real fact that your life must suck for you to blame everything on Berea. I have a good life post-Berea so of course I don’t hate it. Your life must be pretty sad. And as for my name? Well, you started it dear so please go first. And as for money? Who cares who makes more. I never said making more money is what matters. What matters is having a good life. I have a great life thanks to Berea; my high salary is just a part of that. You have a sad, pathetic life and have to spend it online crying about how Berea hurt you. That isn’t an insult. That is a fact.
You belittle legitimate arguments and make everything about me, my life, my employment, and my paycheck. That’s the definition of ad hominem. I came to college to study, not expecting a big paycheck post-graduation. I would be fine citing any other metric about the curriculum’s effectiveness, but we have none.
My life in Berea sucked so bad that whenever I engaged in a discussion about college, I got triggered. That’s irrespective of what’s happening in life. In terms of the profs, of course, those who engage in cutting-edge research are way better than those who don’t. You don’t need individualized attention. Clear expectations, end-semester exams, treating students like adults, and letting them own their education will go a long way. The idea that you need 24/7 “attention” from educators is a form of learned helplessness they have instilled in you since birth as a form of job insurance (“idea parasite,” lol). The same goes for the student/teacher and student/faculty ratios. Some of the best educators I have “met” (Eric Lander, Richard Rusczyk, Michael Sandel) are all online and teach tens of thousands.
My Berea experience made me believe that professors are more troublesome than helpful, but two classes changed my mind slightly (Intro to Psycho, History of China). I probably would not have acquired the knowledge without their help. Most classes at other colleges are like that, unlike the atmosphere of control and terror I was in. So, I tried to “diagnose” what happened and provide solutions, probably in a triggered voice.
Okay, then what is your name. If was your idea, so please let me know!
Pathetic low-life who can’t stick to facts and resort to ad hominems is the what you would expect from Berea
I am a student and a liberal, support women, GLBQ, abortion, gun control. I signed the petition for a union but not to remove our working efforts because I TOO BELIEVE THERE IS DIGNITY IN WORKING. Yes, that sentence is uppercase, because usually people who don’t support the union think that unions just take away the dignity of working. Ever seen Norma Rae?? Unions GIVE working more dignity by improving our working conditions. FWIW, I read the list of students who signed the union petition and let me tell you, there are several conservative, far right students on that list. Not as a joke, not for fun. Because we are DOING something TOGETHER as students to make our working conditions better.
Good luck I say go for it long over due
When I read the first few paragraphs, I wondered if this was a joke.
Please use references correctly. The Work Colleges Consortium is an organization comprised of work colleges for the sake of sharing their experiences, and forwarding the work college concept. When I was at Berea, there were about 5 work colleges. Now, there’s about 10.
While the labor program has its shortcomings, those issues need to be addressed directly to the college’s President; Dean of Labor; and Board of Directors. Anything else will lead to further confusion. Appoint a spokesperson; have your grievances properly and maturely articulated; and make the presentation. Let them know you will be following up, and give dates.
Students don’t qualify for unionization, anyway. A mock union, perhaps, but not one that has any legal standing. A mock union would be a good compromise, and would help prepare for the working world. That I could support.
I belonged to a union after graduation. There’s a 180 degree difference between that, and what’s being proposed here. Before I joined the OPEIU, I was forced to fund them out of gratitude for their efforts. After joining, the union rep helped me get a promotion.
Are you sure that students are not eligible for unionization? For example, “Cal State student assistants and workers vote to unionize.”
https://edsource.org/2024/cal-state-undergraduate-student-workers-vote-to-unionize/706421
That’s completely different from the Labor programs of work colleges. The students in question are actually on the university’s payroll.
The labor program is to not only give the brain a break, and use a part other than that used for classroom work, but is supposed to develop a skill set – or utilize an existing one – to move both the student and institution forward. The labor positions were also meant to be a fall-back in case the degree didn’t land the holder a job.
In my case, both the skillset (secretarial) and the degree (English) got me a job. My bosses were thrilled to have a Berea graduate. Additionally, I’m currently authoring a book about the historical building complex in which I worked.
I’m also working on my Berea memoirs – “Five Years in the Shoe Library.”
There’s always been complaints about the “peon wages” (direct quote from a 1980s Pinnacle article). We were very poor, in most cases. Lady Poverty, as St Francis of Assisi referred to the state of life, is a tremendous teacher. Too many fight her, instead of listening.
I stand by my advice to the current students. With the internet, the complaints can be filed in such a way that they can actually be seen more quickly. The student complaining about having to field phone calls from angry parents needed a few standards to go by. Let’s start here: How would she want to be treated if she were in their shoes?
At a minimum, summer labor can be unionized. I suspect they are treating regular semester jobs as “classes” to fulfill the work-study requirements.
I am a graduate of Berea College and I am stunned by this group of students who think forming a union for student workers is an intellectual idea. The fact is you are getting an incredible education at a top 20 college without paying tuition. If you were at a major university or other private college you would most likely have to work more than 10 hours a week and most likely 2 jobs then, graduate with a huge college debt. As a student you have many opportunities to work in areas of your interest and degree, and your work experience from a work study program, does pay off once you have graduated. I am saddened by the lack of sensibility and attitude of these students. Work in any environment is not perfect, but these students have been given and incredible opportunity, and for a select few to ruin a wonderful chance for many students is selfish.
By “incredible,” do you mean “incredibly bad”? Berea grads perform worse than they should have in almost every conceivable metric. They blame their unprivileged demographics, but Pell Grant graduates from almost everywhere perform better than Berea. Berea has 40,700$ 4th year post-graduation median income for Pell Grants, as opposed to 54,000$ for the UK, 42,000$ for EKU, 57,000$ for Centre College, 50,000$ for UoL. That holds if we compare major to major.
Bereans have higher GPA/ACT than any of them, except Centre possibly. UK acceptance rate is hovering at 95%. The workload can’t be any starker. We spent 50 hours a week on classes, labor, and assignments and about 20 additional hours walking between the destinations. At the UK, most classes are attendance optional. I have a friend who spent less than 10 hours a week on studies, partied every weekend, grinded [a popular interview prep platform] for 3 months, and graduated with a 3.7 GPA & 150k salary. By the way, he funded his education by driving Uber. I also have friends from Berea who simply couldn’t prepare anything relevant to their career (because all their time & mental energy have been robbed by the people who “know better”) and had to go home empty-handed.
Instead of becoming the benefactor of students, Berea has become a giant monster that sucks the blood out of students. Our experience is so diabolically opposed to the stories they tell when they beg for donations or during the application process. Do you know the reason? It’s because students have zero bargaining power.
You might have heard the phrase, “Customer is always right.” Can you use it at a local food bank? The manager would laugh at you. At Berea, “students are always wrong.” You are wrong & “ungrateful” if you complain the 15-hour poorly written assignment is pointless & teaches you nothing. You are wrong if you complain that the labor is time-wasting, energy-draining, and has no real impact. The reason is that your bargaining power is so low. Free tuition removes students’ only bargaining power at private institutions, i.e., the ability to vote with your feet. Of course, they’ll always say, “Your voices matter,” handpick a few who drink their Kool-Aid, and give you a token representation. But unless you have something that can influence their decision-making (e.g., tuition affects their job security), your voices don’t count.
Union is just a start, and even if successful, it won’t resolve most issues. The idea that they are saving “poor students out there” and everything they do should be “sucked up” by students without demanding any form of accountability is so ingrained into the psyche of the faculty and staff.
Where have I heard this before? Probably a variation-on-a-theme at the table at Food Service.
Comes down to this: if not happy, go elsewhere. If Berea is the only educational option, consider Walmart. Perhaps a break, or following your friend through UK, would help with perspective.
Not everyone is meant to attend Berea. I pray you find your fit.
“The institution is bad based on every metric.”
Reply: “Go elsewhere.”
That’s the exact same attitude everyone gets from faculty and staff. That is also why students need a union.
Not everyone is meant to attend Berea, but the institution tries their best to hide the conditions. Nobody has perfect information. People forgo scholarships elsewhere once they come here. You can keep your career advice to yourself.
Sounds like you hate Berea and should transfer or get a graduate degree. I have used my Berea degree to make multiples of what my parents did and as much as many doctors with a bachelor degree. It’s how you apply it.
I am also an alumnus. You sound like someone doesn’t understand basic stats, a reflection of the “education” you received. According to your LinkedIn profile, you are a registered nurse late in your career who took a nursing degree a decade after you graduated from Berea. RNs earn 60k a year. I make multiples of that. I bet you won’t grasp another basic: the data shows if you went to even EKU, you would be earning more. Also, the fact that you needed another nursing degree after doing four years of nursing at Berea (which, at that time, was not accredited) contradicts all your points. You can be an Uncle Tom/Aunt Jemima and love the plantation to your heart’s content, but nothing would alter what the data shows.
You spent 20 hours a week walking between class and labor? Are you literally a snail? And as for your “friend”, good for them. They made a choice that worked for them. I know people from UK who have nothing after graduation and I know Bereans who are doing great things. Looks like you made a choice that didn’t work out for you and now you are mad at Berea for it. Even if you feel you were made a mistake for first year, you could have transferred. If Berea was as bad as you say, and you stayed for 4 years, then that is on you for making a bad choice.
Oh yea, trying to make overall stats all about “you” and get an ad hominem out of it. Reflect more about the “education” you got.
Nah. I tried to transfer, but Berea managed to sabotage me every step along the way. My second semester was my best chance at transferring, but I sprained my ankle. There was a prof whose policy was, “three unexcused absences = F.” To get excused, you need a letter from the white house within a week. So, instead of resting my sprained ankle, I had to brave the snow and go to the white house. I slipped halfway and almost lost consciousness in the snow. My sprained ankle was now nearly broken. I missed the rest of the semester and got three Fs and one C. That destroyed my transcript. Even Davidson, which gave me almost a full scholarship (~5000$/year net price), now asked for 25k. There’s no way my family could afford it.
It got worse from then on. Anyway, what’s past is past. I learned not to put myself in such a low bargaining position that I’ll be someone else’s mercy. Even if we had something remotely resembling an ombudsman, I would never face such a fate (and even worse ones in later semesters). So, that’s why I support students trying to improve their bargaining power.
Really? You fell in the snow and were unconscious? Sure…
Berea’s most embittered critics are usually those currently enrolled.
What, exactly, is being sought through unionization? Those concerns can likely be better addressed by dialogue.
Unionization is similar to retaining an attorney. One does not seek counsel for the sake of relief until all other avenues of recourse have been exhausted. Just sayin’.
Dialogue never works with this college. Unless some outside party is involved, they’ll use/abuse their dictatorial powers and silence every student. Even this publication, the Berea Torch, was in a huge trouble for creating a website and interviewing some people. The admin threatened to shut it down, and the authors probably faced explosions. It was until some outside pro-free speech organization sent a cease-and-desist letter that they finally stopped harassing the students involved.
Even starting a “dialogue” risks below-the-radar forms of harassment and intimidation. For example, profs stopped correcting the grades, some important emails never answered, opportunities shut down, etc. They couldn’t care less if you drop out since you aren’t paying. The only levers of leverage students have are outside involvement and publicity. Students need to seek those two as much as possible.
One word: alumni. There probably needs to be a portal, staffed by alumni, who can advocate for students. Or some alumni there locally who can actually be there to physically support the students’ actions.
I won’t go into details, but I know how the college reacts to “nonconformity”. You’re preaching to the choir on that one.
Berea’s biggest critics are the people who made poor life choices after graduation and are now mad they have no one to blame but themselves.
So, I should expect profs don’t do their work at Berea before attending? TAs bring their prejudice. Grades are all random. Classes are all work but useless. That’s not being critics. That’s putting information out there. Have they put their lectures, attitudes, and everything up there? No, they haven’t. They try to polish as much as possible. You hate it because the more infomation we put up (It’s called “perfect information”), the more people know about this college, the more they can make informed decisions, and the less you can fake on your resume (I WENT TO HARVARD OF THE SOUTH!). A google search, and vola! Otherwise, you have no fk to give about people having different experiences.
TAs? Unlike most schools, in which TA’s are basically your professors, TAs in Berea are more like actual assistants, so not sure why you are bringing them into the occasion. It sounds like you would have thrived in an environment where you didn’t have to go to class, had slide shows online, and didn’t have to do any work. I am sure you did very little to get by at Berea, did even less to get by in the real world, and now are sad that life isn’t what you thought. I took my classes seriously in Berea. I took advantage of every opportunity, I learned a lot, and they prepared me for the next level. All schools have some good and some “bad” professors. And if someone (i.e. you) is putting “I went to the Harvard of the south” on their resume then that is odd because that is not what a resume is. Do you know what a resume is? Perhaps that is why you have not been able to find steady employment post Berea. Do feel free to reach out to me and I will help you format your resume.
This is stupid. You all are stupid. But you’re young so hopefully you’ll grow out of it.
Unionization will require a literal Act of Congress. Unionization of students is not included in the Federal Work Colleges law.
Hello, many graduate and undergraduate unions have been recognised in the U.S. recently. Berea College would not be the first. Here is a link with more information: https://www.chronicle.com/article/colleges-contend-with-a-tidal-wave-of-new-undergrad-unions
The article is truncated.
What’s the PURPOSE of this unionization, though? Aside from having grievances aired? Draw me a picture of what you’re hoping to achieve.
You can read the union’s mission statement here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/uswbmissionstatement/
I’m absolutely dumbfounded. Talk about a generation gap.
Berea must’ve really gone sideways since I was there. We had training; grievance procedures; family-like staffs; crisis intervention…
And I was the recipient of all of the above.
Unionization is a right guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act. Every form of labor can be unionized. From what I just learned, there is tuition at Berea College. Free tuition is a marketing jargon. Students are paid about 20$ an hour, half of which is funded by the federal government. The college cuts more than half as “tuition” and pays students about 5$ an hour. In addition, the college receives about 6000$ per student from the Federal Pell Grant.
However, the question is whether the “labor” students do actual labor or is classified as “classes” for training. According to the Federal Work Colleges Act, it is actual labor. The law requires that the labor must be “real” to receive funding from the Federal Government. Now, any form of labor can be unionized under NLRA. So, students can be unionized since they perform actual work.
Sources: https://workcolleges.org/sites/default/files/2023-A-Guide-to-the-Work-Colleges-Program.pdf
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/olms/regs/compliance/eo_posters/employeerightsposter11x17_2019final.pdf
Sources:
https://workcolleges.org/sites/default/files/2023-A-Guide-to-the-Work-Colleges-Program.pdf
https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/olms/regs/compliance/eo_posters/employeerightsposter11x17_2019final.pdf
To-shay.
As a 2014 alumnus, I am so proud of the current students for organizing!!! Whether or not a union is the right move almost irrelevant – the important thing is to SPEAK UP AND BE HEARD! Berea history is full of fighting the status quo and breaking the mold, standing up for others, showing compassion and understanding in the face of complacency and opposition. The system is flawed and this is a chance for all of Berea to grow and become a TRULY stand-out place of learning!
There is a lot of talk here about post-graduation salaries. You cannot compare Berea to UK, UofL, or even EKU. These schools have professional engineering and business schools (our business program is not AACSB accredited) among others. Those salaries are highly skewed by students coming out of a few specific programs Berea doesn’t offer. Additionally, Berea students are highly motivated to take low-paying work in service, care, non-profit, and social justice-related employment. If Berea graduates want to go work for corporate America, as would be typical of a much larger share of students at a more traditional University, they can go get the big salaries too.
That’s rubbish. For each and every major, EKU, UoL, UK earn higher. That’s for Pell Grant graduates. Regular UK graduates earn far higher. Now what other excuses do you have?
In addition to that, EKU is a frat, party school with far lower ACT than Berea (18-22 to 24-28). It has 100% acceptance rate. Its students don’t work and often don’t attend classes. We are comparing with the “bottom barrel.” If anything, Berea’s median income is boosted by a large share of zero-income graduates who are in volunteer programs like AmeriCorps. They are considered not working and not counted (must be working a regular job). Anyway, trying to persuade a prof their forced garbage is less than useless is worse than preaching abolitionism in pre-Civil War South.
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/
Also need to add that that’s for fourth year after graduation. Straight-out-of-college salaries are abysmal for Berea (although that better reflect the quality of the education). Straight out of college, reference major #1 has 34,000 median income for Berea, and 51,000 for EKU. Reference major #2 has 32,000 for Berea and 62,000 for EKU. The income gap is not as staggering in later years as unemployed grads do their work and practice job-relevant skills but still 10-20% below. Considering Bereans have a standard deviation above EKU in terms of ability (ACT/GPA), attending Berea inflicts an income and life penalty similar to contracting HIV.
Oh yea, Berea students on pell grant major in finance or STEM not expecting to work in corporate America only to find himself totally uncompetitive there.
You must be a prof. Anything to cover up your incompetence. Couldn’t really care how many lives you destroyed. The barest of minimum can’t be expected of them.
I had been in classes which were more or less a joke. Made a mountain out of third grade materials. Imagine teaching addition but never let students know when they get wrong or right. And then, add a giant pile of writing assignments just to keep students busy. And then, strict as hell (like 3 absences equal F). All my successful friends and I can testify that you contributed nothing but troubles to our success. There are also a giant pile of underemployed bereans, and for that, you are fully responsible.
So the work is too easy, no academic standards, and yet they ruined your life? Make it make sense lol.
Because incompetent white trash like you are the profs. They waste all your time on BS. Can’t even do the barest of minimum. Everyone in my field knows it. Berea attracts white trash like you.
Your semi-human white trash brain won’t understand. It’s like talking to chimps. You guys actually deserve one another. The subhuman, genocidal evil.
I can make an ABCD class “challenging” by asking everyone to write 1000 times and lick my ass to get a pass. Only you would do it. That doesn’t mean others don’t understand ABCD. That just means you are an asslicker.
Even today, I could give 100 bucks for you to lick my ass, nice and clean. You would do it. The vast majority would rather die than lick my ass. If I am a prof and force them to lick my ass, they would become depressed or get PTSDs. That doesn’t mean they are bad or that you are a tough guy. It just means you are an asslicker without any values.
My struggles are over. Some struggled more than I did, some less. The whole struggle wouldn’t have been necessary either 1) Profs were competent or 2) they were less dictatorial, or 3) independent obudsman in place checking their power. Berea had none. The college motto is, “Students are always wrong; profs always right; go elsewhere if you don’t like.”
Article seems to contradict itself. We are told the union will advocate for students to have leadership opportunities but then gives an example on a student complaining that he was asked to be a leader?