I started my journey at Dartmouth as a student (Go Class of '22!) and have experienced first-hand how life-changing Dartmouth can be to those who walk through its doors towards a path of higher education. It is because of the faculty, yes, but also because of the thousands and thousands of staff members Dartmouth employs that my experience was so profound and I was able to flourish. Today, I work on the back-end of Dartmouth, supporting the very classrooms and technology that I utilized as a student, so that other students may experience the same life-altering education I received.

 I am a staff member at an Ivy League University who faces food and housing insecurity. I am a Dartmouth Aluma that uses the food bank that once lived under Dick's House and now resides in Kellogg, just to make sure I don't have to decide between paying rent and paying for nourishment - and yet, sometimes that decision still has to be made.

I am not alone.

I can tell you from firsthand experience that a significant number of staff here are struggling to make ends meet, causing a massive mental and physical health crisis across Dartmouth Campus. Employment at an esteemed institution like Dartmouth should provide a reasonable living wage. Sadly, this is not the reality. Some staff members at Dartmouth make at or less than what some students on campus are earning. And yet, it is our unceasing (and mostly unseen, under-appreciated) labor that keeps Dartmouth functioning on a day-to-day basis.

This is why we need to establish a Committee on Staff at Dartmouth College. The need for a platform that can adequately represent the concerns of the staff is urgent. If we, the staff, have the ability to voice our needs and negotiate our working conditions, issues like that of inadequate wages could be properly addressed.

More than half of college staff across America reportedly live paycheck to paycheck (Source: CNBC). It is a pressing issue that organizations need to take seriously. The establishment of a Committee on Staff at Dartmouth will be a significant first step towards acknowledging the essential contributions from staff in the day-to-day running of the college and ensuring a just and equitable environment for everyone who steps foot on The Big Green, while continuing to lead by example for colleges all across the United States. 

Recognize staff contributions, and ensure fair treatment by signing this petition to establish a Committee on Staff at Dartmouth College.

Vox Clamantis in Deserto - We are the lone voices, and we will be heard.