In a bold display of defiance prompting the MSU police to post officers at the doors to the Administration Building, the Graduate Employees Union staged a protest Friday morning before the Board of Trustees meeting.
The protest was directed toward what they believe are poor working conditions and compensation toward teaching assistants. Some of the demands made by the GEU included giving graduate employees compensatory tuition, as opposed to the current nine credits employees receive free of charge. The GEU also advocated for healthcare, an inclusive working environment and higher salary.
GEU member and fisheries and wildlife TA Elle Gulotty said the demands were fair and not unreasonable considering other areas of the university’s budget.
“Fifteen thousand dollars is not a lot of money,” she said, noting almost half of TAs make less than that.
Beginning an hour before the trustees were planned to meet, members and supports of the GEU marched in circles around the front steps of the administration building holding signs.
Geography TA Chris Connallon stood in the middle of a circle of marchers, holding a sign pointed at the administration building and said the administration doesn’t treat them as assets.
“The university and the administration could treat us better and they could value us more for what we do, because we do a lot,” he said.
Before the march began, alumnus Noah Saperstein, the student arrested at last December’s Board of Trustees meeting, placed a picket sign in the hand of the John Hannah statue in front.
Later that morning, GEU members and supports showed up in force at the Board of Trustees meeting, reserving a number of spots during the public comment portion. One student, being honored with a GPA award early in the meeting, used his small amount of speaking time to express his support for the graduate students and asked the trustees to hear what they had to say.
GEU President Sylvia Marques was one of those who took to the podium at the meeting and said MSU ranked at the bottom in the Big Ten in terms of healthcare, salary and tuition compensation.
“For the quality of work we provide for the university, we are not asking for much in return,” she said.
By cutting costs on teaching assistants, she said students and the academic community will be negatively affected.
Alex Bissell, who is affiliated with MSU Students United, also spoke at the meeting, and said he was reconsidering attending MSU as a graduate student because of the poor treatment and increasing privatization and corporatization.
“They deserve an inclusive workforce free from harassment,” he said.
The Board of Trustees didn’t discuss the GEU’s demands during the public meeting.
