On Friday, Oct. 16, at 8:45 a.m., John Joyce ‘12 and Jamie Stevenson ‘10—two student representatives from the Campus Solidarity Working Group—visited this morning’s Board of Trustees meeting on invitation to give a brief set of remarks and formally present their List of Demands, which was drafted for the group’s demonstration on campus last Wednesday.

Members of the Solidarity Working Group—who have advocated throughout the past two weeks for the job security of Vassar employees—received an e-mail the day before the Trustee meeting from President of the College Catharine Bond Hill. In the e-mail, Hill wrote that she “would like to invite two [members of the group] to present the demands to our Board of Trustees who are here on campus this weekend.” Hill also explained that she and the Senior Officers would be “getting back to [them] on the ‘List of Demands’ as soon as possible, but no later than Oct. 30, 2009,” wrote Hill. “I would like to propose,” the e-mail continues, “that a small group of administrators and members of the faculty leadership meet with you before then, however, to discuss in more detail the demands you have outlined so that we can respond with a clear understanding of your concerns.”

The meeting, held in the College Center Multipurpose Room—was already in session when Hill exited the room to call in Joyce and Stevenson, who had been waiting outside. Once inside, the two students were introduced to Chair of the Board of Trustees William Plapinger before being seated before the Trustees and Senior Officers.

Because all those attending the meeting already had copies of the demands, Joyce and Stevenson did not read them aloud and instead both read from a brief statement, during which they advocated for the preservation of the mission of the College and the protection of the Vassar community.

Once the students had delivered their remarks, Plapinger thanked them, saying “I don’t think we’re going to open this up for conversation—I think it’s the start of a conversation and I know that the administration has invited you to meet with a group of administrators and senior faculty.”

“I would like to say,” continued Plapinger, “that the steps being taken by the administration have been fully considered and fully supported by the Board. We do believe that we share the many—and almost all—of the concerns that you have, but ultimately our responsibility by law is to preserve the mission of the institution, which is education, and we believe that the steps we have taken will permit us to have Vassar be economically sustainable for many years to come.” Following these remarks and further thanks from Plapinger, the students left the room and the Trustees continued with the meeting.

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