Straws in the Wind - Part 187

From the Yale Daily News: Members of Students Unite Now organized a town hall... to discuss the experiences of student workers in light of Yale’s recent decision to replace two need-based summer awards with a one-time Summer Experience Grant. “After announcing $4.5 billion in endowment returns, Yale will cut grants that were promised when we enrolled,” read the Instagram post advertising the town hall. “Yale will force a choice between study abroad or internships to advance our careers. This will exacerbate race and class based inequity on campus.” The town hall consisted of a mix of testimonies from student workers and data quantifying Yale’s financial approach to student jobs.

At the beginning of the event, organizers discussed cuts to student workers’ hours, which were the result of a 5 percent reduction in non-salary expenses made by the University in anticipation of the endowment tax hike. Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis said in a September interview that over the next three years, the University will cut an additional 5 percent of non-salary expenses — a category which student wages fall into, he said. “If, for example, now, people are typically working seven hours a week, I wouldn’t be surprised if we give the guidance that, well, it’s going to be five hours a week going forward, or something like that, because we pay everybody $17 or $17.50 an hour,” Lewis said. “A realistic way to be fair is just to have roughly the same number of people but have each have fewer hours.” ...

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/11/21/student-workers-call-for-higher-wages-restoration-of-summer-grants/.

From the Daily Princetonian: ...The Community Living Advisors (CLAs) for the residential colleges were informed in meetings with their residential college staff that the position would not be offered next academic year. CLAs in upperclass student housing, however, would remain unaffected. There are currently 44 CLAs employed at Princeton, 19 of whom are for students in residential colleges. According to four CLAs, the cause for these cancellations is University budget cuts impacting all units, including the residential colleges. The University has been working to reduce costs following $210 million in federal grant cuts, although about half of the funding has since been restored.

The role of CLAs is to facilitate sophomore, junior, and senior dormitory living by hosting events, managing proper dorm etiquette, and being a social resource for non-first year students. The position was established by the University in 2023 and merged the roles of the Assistant Residential College Advisors (ARCAs) and Dormitory Assistants (DAs)...

Full story at https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/12/princeton-news-stlife-university-to-terminate-residential-community-living-advisor-position.