ASLC grapples with pay issues after SAAB chair demands equitable wage structure

After a tumultuous few weeks, the Associated Students of Lewis & Clark (ASLC) reconvened on Feb. 23 for their third Senate meeting of the semester.

The evening began with a debrief by ASLC Vice President Jeremiah Koshy ’21 on the campus graffiti incident in January. According to Koshy, after much deliberation, ASLC ultimately decided that the incident should be handled through means other than student government. Feminist Student Union Representative Caroline Arnis ’22 invited those who wanted further discussion to a meeting with Prison Abolition Club — which has been leading transformative justice efforts.

A special election was also conducted at the Feb. 23 meeting for the position of student resources coordinator. Katie Kruger ’21, who previously served as vice-coordinator, was unanimously elected by senators and representatives.

The meeting quickly moved to the most contentious agenda topic: issues of compensation within ASLC.

On the morning of Feb. 21, seven members of ASLC and Student Academic Affairs Board (SAAB) — Mikah Bertelmann ’21, Koshy, Olivia Weiss ’23, Jacques Parker ’23, Mateo Telles ’21, Ela Pencl ’21 and Madisyn Taylor ’21 — received a letter from SAAB Chair Arunima Jamwal ’21 titled “Workplace Malpractice.” In the letter, Jamwal outlined what they perceived to be an unequal pay structure for ASLC Cabinet members.

Jamwal declined to comment on this story.

At LC, student leaders sign agreements that classify them as independent contractors, which removes liability from the college for paying them an hourly wage. Those that sign these contracts often receive a stipend from their student organization.

Jamwal calculated all the hours they had worked as an ASLC Cabinet member since Spring 2020. Using Oregon’s minimum wage as a benchmark, Jamwal calculated that they should have been compensated over $11,000 since April 2020. In the letter, Jamwal announced that they would be “indefinitely boycotting all the responsibilities, tasks and commitments” of their position and asked for a “monetary redressal” of the alleged compensation due to them.

Over the next two days, the rest of Cabinet was forwarded Jamwal’s letter via email. ASLC Treasurer Sam Daer ’21 and Student Organizations Coordinator (SOC) Quentin Gaul ’21 — the student government’s two financial officers — were not initially included among the letter’s recipients. A petition soon circulated among SAAB members in support of Jamwal’s letter.

Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students Robin Holmes-Sullivan was informed of the issue on Feb. 22 by Rocky Campbell, assistant dean of student engagement and ASLC’s interim advisor. Campbell, Ombudsperson Valerie White and Director of Student Engagement and Special Events Tamara Ko were present at the meeting.

On Feb. 22, ASLC Chief Justice Jacques Parker ’23 sent a letter to Bertelmann and Koshy reminding them that they are obligated to promote equity within ASLC. If they failed to consider Jamwal’s requests, Parker was prepared to initiate a recall of them both. Parker’s letter was widely interpreted by various ASLC members as a developed plan to recall Bertelmann and Koshy, though he denies this was the letter’s intention.

“I sent what I meant to be a notice saying, ‘Hey, you agreed to be equitable and my hand will be forced to initiate a recall process if you choose to be inequitable,’” Parker said. “I meant it as a notice and it could have been misconstrued as a plan.”

Parker does not intend to initiate a recall process unless Bertelmann and Koshy flatly reject Jamwal’s requests without a conversation. He was not willing to share his letter with The Pioneer Log.

Multiple ASLC officers confirm that the issue of pay has been discussed within Cabinet. According to Weiss, ASLC had an excess of funds due to COVID-19 that Bertelmann was planning to use on bonuses as a surprise for ASLC members. Cabinet members collectively decided on a fair way to calculate the bonuses.

“It was a financial equation,” Weiss said. “You were supposed to calculate how much more work you were doing.”

Bertelmann and Koshy confirmed in an email statement that “The ASLC Strategic Direction Task Force, chaired by (Koshy), is working to review compensation structures and amounts

at other schools and recommend changes for ASLC.” According to sources, Jamwal and Parker previously expressed dissatisfaction with Cabinet stipends, but had never publicly voiced the disapproval outlined in Jamwal’s letter. Multiple sources described receiving Jamwal and Parker’s two letters as a “shock.”

Gaul, the SOC, stated that she felt “bewilderment and surprise” after obtaining Jamwal’s letter.

“My other reaction was confusion about why the letter was directed at the President and Vice President of ASLC because they don’t have the power to unilaterally change the stipend system, and they have been working this year to improve stipends for the future,” Gaul said. “I was also confused why the treasurer, and myself as the SOC, were left off of the letter.”

During the Senate meeting, a few ASLC members felt as though Jamwal’s letter was targeting Bertelmann and Koshy. Asian Student Union Representative Anna Graff ’22 warned against tone policing the letter. According to Graff, Jamwal’s actions were to the benefit of all student leaders, particularly ASLC members. Policing tone would only increase divisiveness and distract from the central message.

“There should be camaraderie among the Cabinet,” Graff said. “I don’t want to police their tone because I don’t know their intentions when they wrote it.” Her statements were echoed by Arnis.

Currently, ASLC’s budget is supported by the Student Body Fee, a $360-per-year mandatory charge to students that funds most student organizations. Daer, the ASLC treasurer, explained the financial limitations ASLC is experiencing in terms of student wages.

“It is not financially possible to pay ASLC Cabinet members hourly unless

we recategorize ourselves as student employees and therefore are not paid via the Student Fee money,” Daer said. “Personally, I think it is unethical for Cabinet members to be paid hourly when student leaders do not receive a stipend at all, or unless everyone is paid hourly.”

In an email statement, Bertelmann and Koshy echoed Daer’s reluctance to increase Cabinet pay when some student leaders receive less compensation or none at all.

“We do not think it would be right to push for better compensation for ourselves in the Cabinet, while so many of our peers serve and labor for our community, with a fraction of the compensation we receive,” Bertelmann and Koshy said. “First let’s fix that, then we can talk about better compensation all around, for all folks in student leadership.”

Telles, chair of the ASLC Equity, Inclusion, & Justice Committee, questioned the ethics behind the way student leaders are currently compensated.

“I believe that this question points towards a greater systemic issue rather than Arunima’s personal case,” Telles said. “I believe that anybody who is committing themselves to 40+ hours a week, which is full-time, all the while being a full-time student, yet being labeled as a ‘volunteer’ is ridiculous.”

Though he respected Jamwal’s decision to boycott their role until the issue was resolved, Telles offered support for SAAB committee members and students.

“We as a Cabinet absolutely do not want students to be affected by Arunima’s decision, so while I cannot speak on behalf of my colleagues, I can say that I am personally committed to help where I can so that this does not become the case,” Telles said.

Additional reporting by Nicholas Nerli.