THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF BENTLEY UNIVERSITY SINCE 1963
THE VANGUARD VOLUME LVVII ISSUE VII
BENTLEYVANGUARD.COM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10 , 2015
#BentleyVoices continues the conversation on race news editor
On Friday, November 13th, Bentley University opened the Cultural Lounge as a safe place for students to gather and discuss how they were feeling in the wake of the events at the University of Missouri, where students had called for the resignation of many upper-level administration due to their lack of a direct response to racial tensions on campus. The talk borrowed the hashtag used around similar conversations last year, #BentleyVoices, to gather the discussions in one place, and was just the beginning of a multi-tiered approach Bentley is taking to open up conversations on race. This new series of conversations were started by Nina DeAgrela, Assistant Director of Multi-Cultural Center, and Felina Kelly, Residence Director. They noticed that many students were discussing the events in Missouri on Facebook and Twitter, but there wasn’t a real safe place for students to come together and have an open conversation. Looking to provide that option, Nina and Felina decided on a two-tiered approach, beginning with a
very informal conversation in the Cultural Lounge on November 13th and followed-up with a more formal discussion on Thursday, November 20th. The first day was purposefully casual. DeAgrela and Kelly wanted to quickly develop a space for students to come together to talk about what they were seeing in the media and how they were reacting to it, and set up a time for students to drop-by at their leisure. About 50 students stopped by the event, with staff sitting in the room the entire session, and
the conversation soon turned to activism on the Bentley campus. Though students and staff were able to let out their initial emotions at this informal event, it only started the snowball of conversations to come. The next step was the formal event on November 20th. This day was meant to be a forum for students, staff, and faculty members, and about 200 people attended, including three or four classes who decided to attend the forum in lieu of class that day. President Gloria Larson and Vice President for Student Affairs,
Dean Andrew Shepardson, also attended. Andrew Dole, Staff Psychologist, DeAgrela, and Kelly moderated the talk. Conversations about race can be far from comfortable, but this conversation was important for the Bentley community to really address the reality of race on this campus. One participant, Nedjie Thompson (’19), says she decided to attend because she “thought it’d be a great opportunity to address the elephant in the room. It seems as if no one wants to address the fact that some of us, as
Nedjie Thompson (‘19) speaks as fellow students look on.
Courtesy of Nina DeAgrela
BY Jennifer wright
African American or any other minority might have a tough time adjusting to being here at Bentley.” This conversation allowed her to realize “how many on campus have my back” and left her feeling “more comfortable being on campus and talking about this topic.” Of course, the real world doesn’t stop while these conversations are happening. Beyond Bentley, major world disasters were occurring, such as the Paris attacks. DeAgrela and Kelly acknowledged the severity of the multitude of worldly events occurring at the beginning of the event, but stayed focus on the topic of race. “We promised students that this was really only the start of the conversation,” says DeAgrela, “because we didn’t want people to think that we were negating the rest of the stuff that was happening in the rest of the world, but to understand that we had already started this snowball so we had to see it through. And it’s by no means finished.” DeAgrela highlighted three main takeaways from the talk, regarding residence halls, classrooms, and ally building. First, students stressed the need SEE Bentleyvoices, PAGE 4
Adjunct Union updates series: The Union side of it BY Murrows boys
indepedent anonymous group
Note: The views of the Bentley administration are not present in this article, but rather the piece reflects information gathered by our writer from the Union. We intend to follow up this series with one representing the views of the administration shortly. It was back in February of 2015 when 108 Bentley University adjuncts voted in favor of unionizing. Joining a movement of several other colleges and universities in the New England area that had already done the same, Bentley’s adjunct union currently stands without an official contract in place, despite seemingly reasonable and fair demands. As the group of individuals in support of such changes continues to grow, including an increasing presence of both Bentley staff and students, union officials are hoping that a breakthrough in negotiating
efforts is close at hand. Although multiple meetings between union representatives and the Bentley administration have taken place since the creation of the union, with additional meetings already scheduled well into the following academic semester, disagreements on compensation increases, benefits entitlements, and employment incentives have repeatedly stalled progress in the formation of a working settlement. Yet with the offers presented by union leaders, among them by Bentley Faculty Senate adjunct representative, Joan Atlas, a closer look into the specific requests set forth by the union body reveal a sensible and valid call for better adjunct treatment. The central focus of the union goals begins with compensation. At the present moment, adjunct professors are paid $5,000 per course and are limited to instructing two courses per semester. At the maximum level, adjuncts are capped at earning
$20,000 per academic year without access to any form of subsidized benefits, a perk that many other Bentley part-time employees are entitled to. At that rate of income, adjuncts receive roughly $4,000 less than the established federal poverty level for a family of four ($24,250). Not to mention the fact that courses may be cancelled at any time before the beginning of the semester if it fails to meet adequate enrollment, leaving such professors out $5,000 with no promise of reimbursement and minimal opportunity to find work elsewhere. This was exactly the case for Economics professor, Charles Saccardo, a twenty-one year Bentley veteran and member of the adjunct negotiating committee who lost one of his regularly held economics sections due to insufficient student signups. In spite of having twentyone years of Bentley teaching experience under his belt, Saccardo came away with one less course for the semester, a
serious hit to the already tight income that Bentley provides him and other adjuncts with. “I’m going to have to take $5,000 out this semester just to meet my commitments. And that really has been a sore spot for me,” Saccardo commented in an interview on December 5th. Other adjuncts feel very much the same way surrounding the apparent inaction by Bentley counterparts to recognize adjunct seniority, regardless of the fact that adjuncts teach nearly 30% of all undergraduate courses and are expected to deliver the same quality of learning as all other full-time employees. The union proposal for compensation increases is not a ridiculous demand either. At a steady wage increase of $1,000 per course, with an added 10% bonus for professors with six semesters’ or more experience, union leaders are calling for a $6,000 base compensation for adjunct faculty beginning in the spring 2016 semester, with
increases of $1,000 increments into the spring of 2018. The $1,000 increase in year one represents a 20% raise in base pay per course, but in actuality reflects a figure that is still less than what the union argues is mathematically equivalent to the work that they do. In other words, take a look at the following: the added five minutes to each course meeting as a result of the newly modified schedule, or 6.7% increase in class time, sums to a 14.9% total increase in expected teacher effort per course, given the anticipated plan of 28 meetings throughout the semester— valued at $745 of pay. At a typical combined tax rate of 20% on the $1,000 raise and union dues of 1.5% on the $6,000 gross pay, $1,035 is the resulting amount, $35 more than the union’s own request. In overview, union representatives explain that such modest wage increases would take a mere SEE union, PAGE 4
Love Your Melon
Nutcracker
Younger self
An idea from a college in Minnesota, now at Bentley University.
Another Megan Lieu review of the Boston Ballet; this time about their show Nutcracker.
Saahil Mutha writes a note to his freshman self. Would you agree with his statements?
NEWS 4
FEATURES 9
OPINION 10