The next step

Chancellor Newman recently made an update towards student payments, so if anyone attends UMB, listen up:

Update 1: We now have more time to sign up for a payment plan, April 24 is the deadline.

Update 2: The chancellor has also extended a month in between payments for tuition, room & board, and fees. We now are paying in increments of three instead of two (Payment due May 1, then next payment due June 1, last payment due July 1)

Update 3: Chancellor Newman has provided us access to the UMass Boston Student Emergency Fund. This is great because 222 students were able to get access to a Chromebook for their online courses. (See UMB.edu/coronavirus)

I am not commending Chancellor Newman for this. In fact, I see now that she just does not get it. Her and UMB's administration do not know what it means to struggle in our economy, to be marginalized, to be in a position of oppression by your own institution. I have reached out to the chief executive, Khatera Afshar, and the board of trustees responsible for the school's economic standings, Edward M. Lambert and William Brah. I have sent them an email on Thursday and have not received a reply back. I am convinced that I won't be receiving a reply back, but I refuse to let this discourage me. Not once did they mention an idea for tuition relief that will benefit the students, and not once did they mention fighting for the rights of dormitory tenants who have had to leave through circumstances extending beyond their control. If it were my students, you better damn well be sure that I would argue with the building owner; I'd tell them that we are in a global crisis and students are not working. It is inhumane and asinine to still expect students to pay for these and not be reimbursed for their money. There is more they can do that they simply are not.

I am a believer in spirituality; I believe we are multifaceted beings of physicality and metaphysical energy, and with that, I believe we are beings of abundance. ALL of us. I have comrades who are reaching out to the Provost to discuss the tuition relief on our behalf, I have comrades who are signing petitions to have their voices heard to provide us with real graduation, not a virtual one. I have reached out to comrades who work in news media to discuss this matter publically because I am tired. I am tired of attending a university where my needs are dismissed and not assessed in its totality. I am still considered undocumented by the university because I received my green card a week before the semester started. This means no financial aid, no studying abroad, no federal rights in the university's eyes. I still owe 2,770 dollars and I have been unemployed for three weeks. 

That's my story though, I would love to include some of yours in my news interview if it happens. Please, if you are comfortable with providing a story, email me at LuanM1997@gmail.com. I will keep your name anonymous if you ask me to, but this is not just my fight. It's ours. You all played a part in making this happen, so let's put our stories out there!

Remain safe, remain well, and bear with me with these slow AF updates. While I am fighting UMass Boston and putting them on blast, I am still trying to graduate and do my homework. But please know, this is my number 1 priority right now.