TO THE EDITOR:
In the Friday issue of the DTH, the editorial board presented their evaluations of the student government executive branch’s October report. I was sure I was reading a typo when I saw that the Leimenstoll administration was given an “A” for affordability.
Leimenstoll himself states, via his president’s page, “It’s my job to be an advocate and voice for all students at UNC.” Someone should tell Leimenstoll that UNC has graduate students too.
While it is true that Leimenstoll fought for lower tuition increases for the 3,624 out-of-state undergraduate students, or 19.6 percent of undergrads, he did so on the backs of 3,951 out-of-state graduate and professional students, who represent 36.7 percent of their respective student body.
Both out-of-state undergrads and graduate students were facing a tuition increase of 6.5 percent, but Leimenstoll fought for a 6.1 percent increase for undergrads and seemed unconcerned with the resulting 6.7 percent tuition increase for out-of-state graduate students.
Student body presidents need to remember that 36.8 percent of the student body is graduate and professional students, and although we may not seem to care about Homecoming concerts or joining your student organization, make no mistake that we do care about the money we have to spend on tuition and fees.
Autumn McClellan
Ph.D. candidate
Sociology
