"There's a lot of attention paid to minorities on this campus, but a lot of minorities that feel marginalized get looked over, and a lot of that is due to class," Student Government Organization (SGO) Vice President Michelle Oliveros-Larsen '02 said, explaining the reason for the forum.
The SGO, Financial Aid and Class Equality organization (FACE) and Office of the President sponsored the forum which opened with a panel consisting of Rebecca Woo '02, Elizabeth Brians '01E, Lila MacLean '02, Damon Talbott '02 and Amy Summerville '02.
The panelists volunteered or were asked to discuss their socioeconomic backgrounds and experiences at Amherst involving class relations.
"Classism wasn't very real until I got to Amherst," said Woo, who addressed the financial burdens of paying for books, dorm damage she did not cause, meals out with friends and spring break trips.
Several students mentioned professors' requests that students buy the newest editions of books, preventing students from buying less expensive, used editions. Others suggested that multilith packets be put on reserve in the library and that the reserve system be improved to accommodate more users, a project that Oliveros-Larsen is working on.
Talbott focused on the intersection between class and race.
"I should fit in at Amherst-I'm preppy, I'm white, I'm straight, I play lacrosse, I enjoy academics," he said. "But appearances can be misleading."
"You can't make the assumption that white equals wealth," Talbott said.
Many students voiced complaints about the financial aid office, such as a semester's required books' costing more than the allotted $400.
However, Case said students may be reimbursed for any amount over the $800 that his office provides yearly for books.
Toni Wall '01E said that students on financial aid often feel punished because extra money they make must be put toward the next year's tuition.
However, Case told The Student that the financial aid office has changed that policy.
Many students felt the financial aid office was "hiding" information, but Case told The Student that all information is printed on the website and in other materials. He said he thinks some students may not read the information carefully enough.
Vanessa Olivier '01 said that she wished students could preregister for classes when their tuition is not paid so students "would not be penalized academically for not having money.."
Talbott added that seeing "a lot of people wasting opportunities" has often led him to feel anger toward people who have "great privileges."
Summerville said many Amherst students assume that people at Amherst are, or are going to be, upper class.
"There's this underlying assumption that we all want to be I-bankers," she said.
Talbott said that only six percent of Amherst students in the freshman class come from families with incomes below $45,000, while 50 percent of Americans come from that category.
Director of Financial Aid Joe Case pointed out, however, that 186 students from Amherst's entire population come from below the $45,000 range-about 12 percent of the student body.
Summerville said she "came to Amherst thinking, 'I don't have to talk about class.'"
"But avoiding the issue is how we perpetuate classism," she added.
Brians, who said she feels that she suffers from "the imposter syndrome"-never believing you belong where you are-said she finds conversations concerning class difficult.
"If I were to start talking about the basic experiences of my childhood past, people would think it was a soap opera," she said.
MacLean, who used to work in Valentine Dining Commons, suggested that students show more respect to workers.
"Yeah, it was my job to work there, but it was not my job to be mommy to 1,500 people," she said.
Rachel Berman '02 pointed out that Amherst students have cable television built into their tuition but have to pay for basic phone service.
Brians mentioned the burden of supporting oneself over the holidays when a student has to stay at Amherst and the dining halls are closed.
To improve class relations, students suggested requiring community service or forming "safeguards and allies"-groups that could discuss these issues confidentially.
Case told The Student that he felt his staff "got a bit of a raw deal," but recognizes the difficulty of working within what is "an admittedly bureaucratic procedure."
Associate Professor of Sociology Ron Lembo told The Student that he thought the next step would be "contextualizing" the personal narratives.
"I would like to see students begin to deal more directly with the culture of class," he said. "It's the culture of Amherst that marginalizes people, and that culture persists."
Lembo suggested that students discuss how the Amherst culture is constructed. He pointed to a picture Olivier painted of financial aid students walking between the Comptroller's and financial aid offices-a "walk of shame," she said-as an example.
FACE co-chair and co-founder Marisol Thomer told The Student that this "walk" is common among financial aid students who have to work between the two offices that "won't communicate with each other."
Lembo suggested that future forums involve facilitators who could "develop and make more explicit the themes that were developing."