Not all Washington University students consider themselves to be “children” as Justin Ward and many of both his and my friends do. Many students on this campus are largely or completely independent from their parents, financially and even emotionally. Many students on this campus pay their own bills and struggle to live on student loans and low wages from part-time jobs. Some students even support their own children while attending classes, working and still participating in extracurricular activities.

Why is this ignored here? Why, when someone like Erika Simmons points out that perhaps the University’s financial aid policy is inadequate for poor students, does a Student Life news article about her not only ignore the larger issue of low-income students at Wash U, but also describe her as being different than other students here, with her dark hair and lipstick? Why must she be labeled as different?

Currently, Yale University students are striking against financial aid policies that they feel are unfair to students who can’t afford the $40,000 a year price tag. Harvard University doesn’t ask parents who make less than $40,000 per year to contribute financially to their children’s education. Wellesley College offers summer stipends to students who otherwise couldn’t afford to take an unpaid internship. I can’t even begin to imagine any of that happening here. Does our student body and administration believe that low-income students deserve fewer opportunities than those who can pay?

If so, perhaps we need to question why that is. Students among us struggling to pay tuition bills and living expenses must work in the summers and during the school year, compromising the time available for academic work and extracurricular activities as well as limiting internship choices. We graduate with astronomical debt, limiting our graduate school and career choices. Yet low-income students contribute to Washington University and to the American tax base. Many of us are dedicated to our work, not only in the classroom, but also in things like the Social Justice Center, the Campus Y and Peer Advising. We work hard, and when we graduate, we become productive, tax-generating members of society.

On the other hand, if we, as a student body, feel that Washington University students are not struggling financially, why aren’t we doing more to question why only the relatively wealthy have access to a Washington University education? Why aren’t we protesting that Wash U isn’t welcoming working and lower-middle class students? For that matter, why aren’t we angry about the clear inequalities in our nation’s education system from preschool onward? Are we simply apathetic, unquestioningly accepting that we are the lucky and the blessed? If so, perhaps that needs to change.

Educate yourself. That’s ostensibly what you came to college for. Learn about financial aid policies and the Bush administration’s plans to eliminate Perkins Loans in favor of a small increase in Pell Grants. Question why Washington University is one of the few elite schools in the U.S. that isn’t officially need-blind when making admissions decisions. More than that, question the educational inequalities that make the products of suburban and private schools better prepared for a rigorous college curriculum. If you’re up for it, question yourself. Wonder if perhaps you do think that students whose parents didn’t make as much money as yours aren’t really entitled to a Washington University education. Ask why you believe that, and talk to someone who feels differently. It’s a start.

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