“This is a light on this disparity, illuminates it in particular in this moment…There’s no guise of safety.
If Yale cares most about the people who make up its community, releasing students from a nominal contribution to its budget…It makes such a difference in the lives of students to not have to worry about that cost. If you think about rent off-campus…these things add up. In a time like this, dollars are really not flowing…I really think it is unfair for students to have these unnecessary, additional factors in their decisions. And administrators should understand that this is a time of very, very difficult decisions.
If tuition is the same cost, people have to pay the SIC, and classes are going to be online without support from the university, it makes sense for some people to take a semester or year off, but they shouldn’t have to make that decision based on those factors.
I can’t even see some of the things I’m able to access because of where I’m situated. But to start, having a safe and consistent family situation has made a big difference in being able to finish out the semester. Having a separate room to take meetings, etc. was huge. We also got our WiFi fixed…I noticed that someone in one of my classes that someone didn’t have a stable enough internet connection, I just stopped seeing her, and she just slowly started disappearing from class. The loudest voices got louder in seminars and the quiet voices got quieter.
I think Yale should absolutely bolster MHC in the fall. They should really consider rethinking the whole system, not unlike professors in the fall who are rethinking classes for online format. Releasing students from the SIC would allow them to relocate that money to other places in their lives: to counseling, to wellness practices, to food — things that are essential sources of care.”
Lauren Chan, she/her, 2021, Hopper
