As of January 2022, Elizabethtown College has increased the standard student wage by $1/hour, calculated against a $10/hour maximum, in response to the efforts by Student Senate. During the fall 2021 semester, a shortage of student workers prompted the club to explore ideas to solve this issue. In turn, they decided to form the ad hoc Student Worker Research Committee that focused on advocating for higher compensation across campus.
Class of 2025 Senator and member of this Committee Griffen MacLaren explained why Senate wanted to work toward guaranteeing better pay at Etown. “We wanted to do a student wage increase because the College hasn’t updated its pay scale since 2012, so we thought it was a good time for an update, especially because the cost of living has gone up, but the minimum wage has not,” he said.
The Committee’s main task was to determine a fair pay rate that would appeal to students, and this was deduced through a survey that over 250 students completed. Participants were asked questions such as, “Do you work on campus or not?”, ”Do you like your work conditions?” and “What do you think is a fair wage to get paid?”
After analyzing the results, the Committee concluded that a rate of $10/hour implemented by Jan. 10, 2022, would satisfy students. They proposed this amount to the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) through a resolution.
MacLaren discussed the additional steps taken by Senate to ensure a wage increase, stating, “The Senate President Andrew Furman talked to Jerry Silberman, who is the [Senior] Vice President of [Administration and] Finance at the school, and talked with the Board of Trustees, and they negotiated the dollar increase overall.”
Along with the efforts of Senate, Etown’s chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) was inspired to enact change on campus. The club’s president Gabe Karl said, “We saw that Senate was pushing for a higher wage, and from my perspective, and I think most of the club members, we didn’t see enough pressure coming from Senate onto the administration.”
YDSA put informational flyers in residence halls and sent emails calling for improved wages, wishing to unite the students under this cause. The club did not work with Senate during this process, but their tactics allowed more individuals to understand the reason behind this request.
When Senate and the College announced the $1/hour increase, Karl and his club were slightly disappointed by the outcome.
“Obviously, we’re happy to see that there was an increase, but it wasn’t anywhere near what we thought was going to happen or what most student workers need. If we have a shortage of workers, we have to change what we’re paying them. That’s the only way to fix that,” Karl stated.
However, hope remains for YDSA and students across campus; Senate’s calls for higher wages are not over, as MacLaren expressed, “I know there were plans laid on the table of trying to increase it higher in the future. This was the start, so now that we have that ball rolling, probably next year we can relook at seeing if we can [get] a quarter [increase] because typically, wages do go up if you work at the same job.”
