A statement of demands written by and for graduate workers in response to COVID-19 conditions was sent to University leaders Monday morning. More than 300 people have added their name to the statement in support, including professors and alumni.
“I think the fact that it has garnered so much attention speaks volumes about the lived reality of so many of our graduate student workers’ experiences right now, and the uncertainty we are all facing,” said Danielle Dulken, a Ph.D. candidate and instructor in the Department of American Studies.
The statement, entitled “Demands for the Immediate Relief of Graduate Workers at UNC-CH,” outlines 11 demands graduate workers want University leaders to meet. The statement said the pandemic has placed an increased financial burden on graduate workers, who receive a minimum graduate worker service stipend of $15,700 per academic year.
"Many graduate students have lost crucial grants and fellowships due to COVID-19 and all graduate students face significant research challenges as libraries, archives, and labs are closed and fieldwork is not possible," the statement said.
Dulken said while the statement is labeled as a COVID-19 list of demands, some of the demands predate the emergence of the pandemic.
“Because we are paid so little, as we kind of live in this situation of precarity, we haven't had a chance to save,” said Joseph Richards, a Ph.D. student and graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Communication. “We don’t have the same financial support and resources that other people have. Our stipends only really allow us to scrape by.”
Ampson Hagan, a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology, wrote the original draft of the letter at the beginning of April. A group of about a dozen graduate workers then collaborated to revise and edit the statement, Dulken, who helped create the letter, said.
Hagan said the statement of demands was intentionally sent to University leaders following Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, which was held April 6 to 10. This timing was to call attention to discrepancies in the way the University claims to value graduate students while not reflecting this concern in its actions, Hagan said.
“Appreciation doesn’t pay anyone’s rent," Hagan said "Appreciation doesn’t make anyone feel safe in this particular time or actually be cared for, appreciation comes in lieu of material items that we need for life — that’s inadequate and also like a slap in the face."