Outside of Saturday's home opener against Marshall University, Graduate Student Senate protested for living wages for graduate assistants.
When Shad Bauer was working toward his master’s degree at Ohio University, he qualified for food stamps.
“I know what it’s like to be unable to make ends meet,” Bauer, a graduate student studying interdisciplinary arts, said. “Our message here is not about redistributing graduate student funds. It’s about improving the graduate situation for everybody, bringing the university up to the national average.”
OU’s Graduate Student Senate hosted a protest to push for higher wages for graduate assistants Saturday night outside of Peden Stadium. About 50 people attended the protest, which took place before the home opener against Marshall University.
Protesters called for living wages for graduate assistants and for graduate students to be able to opt out of part of OU’s general fee.
Back in March, Graduate Student Senate passed a resolution that would allow graduate students to opt out a portion of Ohio University’s general fee if they think they won’t attend OU sporting events. President Roderick McDavis later shot down the idea in April.
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“Part of that resolution was that when the administration refused, we were going to protest at the first home football game,” GSS President Carl Edward Smith III said.
In the 2014-15 academic year, more than $27.4 million was collected for the student general fee, according to a previous Post report. About 34 percent of that total, or about $9.3 million, went to OU Athletics.
“The university reports that the minimum expected cost of living for a graduate student in Athens is $11,500 per year,” Smith said.
However, the median stipend amount for graduate students is $9,000, protesters said.
“Today is a day to remind Ohio University that there are more graduate students working on this campus than there are administrative support staff,” Smith said. “Graduate assistants make up by far the largest and most underrepresented work force within this university.”
Graduate assistants also include teaching and research assistants.
“Graduate assistants are necessary for the education and research mission of this university because graduate assistants teach the basic classes,” Smith said. “This frees up faculty for more advanced research and more teaching. Without graduate assistants, this university would crumble.”
The maximum number of hours a graduate assistant can work a week is 20 hours.
“Graduate assistants have such high reading, writing, teaching and research commitments that they don't have time to attend the concerts or the events or the football games that are supported by the general fee,” Smith said.
Shehzad Ahmed, a graduate student studying mathematics and president of the OU Graduate Workers Party, said he didn’t know where Peden Stadium was for Saturday’s protest.
“I didn’t even know where this place was until today because I never come here. None of us have the time to,” Ahmed said.
He said the median stipend of $9,000 is “disgusting" and added that the general fee is "hanging over our heads."
“Seeing my fellow graduate students, people who go to the same things I do, people who probably feel really overworked, almost generally don't get enough sleep at night, who are just toiling away, the fact that they don’t even make enough to make ends meet essentially, that’s horrible,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed said the mission of the OU Graduate Workers Party is to bring to light the issues that graduate students face as graduate workers. He said the party's eventual goal is to unionize.
Ashley Barnes, a graduate student studying English, said she receives a higher stipend, but still qualifies for Medicaid.
“I’m really lucky because I’m in the English department, and because we get a lot of teaching we actually get a slightly higher one at $13,000,” Barnes said.
The protesters also had the support of some faculty and alumni.
“I’m very close to a bunch of graduate students, Jenny Nelson, a professor in the School of Media Arts and Studies, said. “I know exactly what they are going through.”
Nelson said she thinks the protest will start to bring awareness to graduate student issues.
“I think it’s a valuable move because for graduate students to be all in one place and have one voice and share their concerns,” Ali Ziyati, an OU graduate student alumnus in the class of 1995, said.
Smith said the event was “successful.”
“I think we raised awareness on our issue, gained some public visibility,” Smith said.
Saturday’s protest was a first in a series of events for a graduate assistant awareness campaign put on by GSS.
Members of the OU Student Union were also present at the protest, where they passed out cards that people could fill out to join worker unions.
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