Brown and White Vol. 135 no. 17

              The Brown and White Vol. 135 No. 17
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
‘Path to Poverty’
Students protest administrative actions, lack of transparency
By LUCY ZHOU
Associate News Editor
On Nov. 2, students took turns
stepping up to a mic at the flagpole
on the UC Front Lawn to share how
they were personally affected by the
administration’s actions regarding
upperclassmen housing for the 2019-
2020 academic year.
Though the protest was organized
in response to emails sent out about
housing, some students joined the
movement labeled “Path to Poverty”
to express their dissatisfaction with
the lack of transparency from admin-istrators.
“To be clear, this protest is not
just about housing,” said Andrew
Goldman, ’19. “Today’s protest is
about the university administration
failing to represent the needs and
interest of the students. Today is
about the university administration
failing to provide transparency on
the decisions that affect all of us. It is
about the university administration
refusing to recognize the legitimacy
of student representation in the gov-ernance
and decision making of this
institution.”
Students expressed their frustra-tion
of not being heard and their
fear that Lehigh will not provide for
them. They not only demanded sev-eral
administrative changes but also
wanted to be treated with respect as
a community.
Chloe Sider, ’21, a member of the
Student Political Action Coalition,
attended the protest with other mem-bers
of the group. She said despite
appearing like they are advocating
for students’ needs, administrators
are not doing enough.
Kate Morrell/B&W Staff
Students spoke out against the ongoing issues surrounding housing for the 2019-2020 school year on Friday, Nov. 2, 2018, on
the UC Front Lawn. On Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018, Student Senate is holding a meeting with Patricia Johnson, the vice president of
Financea nd Administration, and Ricardo Hall, the vice provost of Student Affairs.
“Most of these issues stem from
improper planning,” said Ruben
Rosas, ’20, the president of the Latino
Student Alliance.
Rosas said he wants students
to have the opportunity be more
involved in decisions made by the
board of trustees as well as more
diversity and equity across campus.
Rosas said it would be beneficial
to have an office that serves as an
intermediary to help guide students
with moving off campus. He said the
administration did a poor job with
timing, especially in the middle of 4
o’clock exams.
As a student, Savanna James,
’21, said student opinions should be
taken into account when the univer-sity
is making decisions. She said the
university didn’t consider students
who are struggling financially and
would have no place to live when
Housing Services initially said there
would be no on-campus options for
upperclassmen.
“A lot of the comments were right
on,” said Ricardo Hall, the vice pro-vost
of Student Affairs. “The insti-tution
fell down when we should be
holding our students up.”
Hall said the requests by the
students were reasonable, and the
administration should be sharing
more information with the student
body.
“It’s encouraging when I see stu-dents
passionate about something,”
Hall said.
Jesse Seaverns, ’21, demanded
the university provide educational
programs about finding off-campus
housing, repay students who signed
contracts and leases as a result of
the first housing email and prioritize
students of the highest financial need
in the lottery system.
Hall said college is about speaking
up for change and beliefs. Following
the protest, Hall said he and others in
the administration will work hard to
regain trust and make things right,
in the short term and long term.
Lehigh takes campaign cross-country
By EMMA DILLON
Assistant News Editor
Courtesy of Deirdre Kwiatek
The Launch for the Campaign for Lehigh in San Francisco took place on Saturday,
Oct. 27, 2018, at the Legion of Honor Museum. The event included dinner, a program
See CAMPAIGN Page 3 about the campaign and a performance by the Lehigh University Jazz Combo.
GO: The Campaign for Lehigh
launched on campus on Oct. 25 and
then made its way from coast to
coast.
The $1-billion-plus fundraising
and engagement initiative was also
celebrated in New York City and
San Francisco on Oct. 26 and 27,
respectively.
GO: The Campaign for Lehigh
aims to attract students, construct
new facilities, develop innovative
programs and support faculty
research. According to the cam-paign’s
website, the university has
raised more than half of its goal.
The launch events, which were
open to both students and alumni,
featured speakers who discussed
each component of the campaign
Inside:
Election Action
7th Congressional District
gains national attention for
its tight competition.
Students work to maximize
voter turnout.
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