Blair Sackett | Student Life

Senior Adam Hasz, senior Molly Gott, senior Pete Tontillo, junior Paul Ahn and junior Wei-Yin Ko hold signs outside Bank of America on Friday, Nov. 4 as part of the nationwide Bank Transfer Day. Students protested Bank of America’s recent business decisions by closing their accounts.

The students were calling on their peers to boycott large banks and move their accounts to small, local banks or credit unions.

Loosely affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, the protest—known as Bank Transfer Day—was part of a national initiative that encouraged people to switch banks by Saturday, Nov. 5.

Five students closed their Bank of America accounts and 11 more pledged to close their accounts for Bank Transfer Day, according to senior Molly Gott, the student who organized the effort on campus.

On Friday, Gott and several other students handed out fliers outside of the University’s Mallinckrodt Center, trying to inform their peers about the “corruption” of big banks.

“As a Wash. U. student, I feel like I want my money to be in an institution that’s working to make the community healthier and stronger…instead of ignoring them,” she said.

Gott chose to transfer her money to St. Louis Community Credit Union, which she said was more engaged in the local community.

“We want people to question whether the bank that they have their money invested in is aligned with their values,” junior Ken Kumanomido said.

Kumanomido said he hoped that Bank Transfer Day would be as successful as the protests against Bank of America’s plan for a $5 debit card fee, which was recently scrapped.

“The consumers of Bank of America…don’t want to support the kind of practices that they’re dealing with. We’ve shown that consumer demand can really change the policies and the actions of these big banks. It only happens when the consumers make a push for it,” he said.

Among the 16 students who closed their accounts or pledged to do so, some cited discontent with Bank of America’s foreclosure practices and its $4.3 billion investment in coal over the past two years.

“That investment in [the coal] industry that I consider toxic and extremely dangerous for our generation’s future—that’s the main reason that I want to switch my money from Bank of America to something else,” senior Adam Hasz said.

But while student passers-by seemed interested in the idea of supporting smaller banks, many said they wouldn’t participate in the protest simply because of the convenience of banking on campus.

“The only thing about Bank of America is it’s convenient,” freshman Keith Wood said. “I’m not sure how many people will actually switch, simply for the sake of convenience.”

Others said they would stay with the bank for the financial benefits of putting their money in a large institution.

While participation may not have been overwhelming, Hasz said he still hopes the protest on Friday is only the beginning of a larger student effort.

“I don’t think this action alone will send that much of a message, but this is part of a national effort to have people move their money all focused on today, so I think when that is added up, it definitely sends a message,” he said.

The Bank’s initial decision announced on Oct. 1 sparked considerable backlash among its customers; an online petition against the fees at change.org received more than 300,000 signatures before Bank of America announced the retraction of the fee. The planned monthly $5 charge was set to go into effect in January.

Bank of America has a branch at Washington University, as well as multiple ATM machines on all of University campuses; as a result, it is by far the most convenient and most often-used bank by students, faculty and administrators.

Even if the fees had gone into effect, some students believed that they nevertheless would have continued using Bank of America out of convenience.

“Bank of America is very convenient for us and there is a high switching cost, and if I had another card, I’d have to take the ATM fees into account anyways,” junior Peter Birke said.

Still, Birke is pleased about the removal of the fees.

“As someone who has a Bank of America account, I am happy that they changed their mind,” Birke said.

Freshman Jason Silberman agreed it would not be financially beneficial to switch to a different bank.

“The fees that you would have to pay with a different card trying to withdraw money from an ATM would probably even out with the $5 fee for using it,” he said.

Freshman Nathaniel Simon was skeptical of the motives behind Bank of America’s retraction of the fees. Prior to Bank of America’s announcement, Wells Fargo and Chase announced plans to retract their similar $3 fees due to the large consumer backlash, which was preceded Bank of America’s announcement.

Unlike Bank of America, both Wells Fargo and Chase had already put a pilot program in place to test the efficacy of the monthly fee.

“The fact that they all had these plans at the same time made me curious about whether they were trying to appease the people by saying that they were going to do this and then not doing it,” Simon said. “I am a little bit skeptical about how great it is in the grand scheme of things.”

Many said that, while they understand that the fees were added in response to new economic pressures, they are still unhappy with the change. Some said they are considering other banking options as a result.

Bank of America is the only bank students can use on campus.

“I’m canceling my Bank of America debit card because there are plenty of other banks that I can use that won’t charge me a monthly fee,” sophomore Bailey Breems said.

Sophomore Anthony Tyrpin responded similarly.

“I’m definitely going to look into other ways of paying for things if they are charging $5 a month,” he said. “That’s a little outrageous.”

The bank’s announcement to impose the fee is partially due to the Durbin Amendment, part of the financial reform passed by Congress last year. The new legislation lowered the fee that sellers pay per debit card swipe from 44 cents to 24 cents.

The bank is one of many to increase the amount card users are charged to make up for the difference in revenue. Wells Fargo, Chase and SunTrust have also announced that they will be introducing debit card fees.

Not all banks are imposing fees on their customers, however. Options such as PerkStreet Financial, as well as prepaid cards, continue to allow debit card options without subjecting consumers to monthly charges.

Student accounts opened before Aug. 10 of 2010 under the old CampusEdge program will not be charged. CampusEdge offered perks such as no overdraft fees for a student’s first overdraft.

Beyond irritation with the change itself, many students criticized how Bank of America has communicated the transition.

Some who recently created accounts were frustrated that they were not notified of the changes.

“I just switched to Bank of America to avoid debit card costs, and then immediately after I switched they started charging,” sophomore John D’Alessandro said.

Even after the change was announced, numerous student customers still hadn’t heard of the new fees or were confused by what accounts the fees applied to.

“They didn’t advertise it. I have a Bank of America account but I never received an email,” sophomore Shira Metter said.

Employees of the bank were unsure about the specifics of the plan.

“We don’t have a specific date on when this is changing and there are still some details that are being worked out,” said Nicole Muratovik, manager at the campus Bank of America office. “It should be toward the beginning of 2012. Any account that will be affected by the fee will get notification at least 30 days before the change. It will come in their statements.”

Muratovik said that large-scale reconfiguration of the bank will likely lead to additional changes in upcoming months.

“In order for us to keep the same services and value that we currently offer the customers…we are redoing our fee structure and things will change,” she said.

The movement originated in New York City last month as a protest of corporate greed and the nation’s current economic policies.

St. Louis residents have claimed Kiener Plaza, in downtown St. Louis at 7th Street and Market Street, as the center of their own Occupy movement. Locals have stationed themselves in the plaza since Oct. 1, with some members staying overnight in tents.

Last Friday, more than 500 people, including students, union leaders and other citizens, marched from Kiener Plaza to the Bank of America headquarters downtown.

Some students at the University have been closely following the progress of both the national and local Occupy movements. Senior Molly Gott has followed the protests since this summer, when she worked in the financial district of Manhattan and heard people discussing the effort.

Gott, who saw the media ignore stirrings of discontent for weeks, saw the parade on Friday as a sign of how much progress the movement has made.

“The original organizers had essentially no organizing experience,” Gott said. “They met on Facebook and met in person for the first time only a couple of nights before the first day of Occupy St. Louis. It’s incredible to see how a lot of people who have been involved with Occupy St. Louis have really stepped up and found power in having their opinions heard.”

Senior Arielle Klagsbrun echoed Gott’s sentiments.

“This started in all cities as a slow, haphazard group, but people committed to it and brought in the media attention,” Klagsbrun said. “If you’re able to have staying power, the media will come around and cover it.”

Others more distantly related to the University have taken active roles in the protests.

Former Adjunct lecturer at the University, Jerome Bauer, who now works with the American Federation of Teachers, has been down at Kiener Plaza every day.

Bauer has been involved with Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment after nearly losing his home to foreclosure a few years ago. While Bauer does not believe that an immediate revolution is feasible, he emphasized the importance of long-term reform.

“I hope to see more people from Wash. U. and from St. Louis turn up to show the world that we can do this right, because it is very important to set an example for the generations to come,” Bauer said. “This is about the future and I think that change does take time. That is why I think it is worthwhile for people to come out and support this.”

Bauer praised the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s response to the protests, which he believes has been much more receptive and less aggressive than the New York and Boston police departments.

“We have all realized that it’s in everyone’s best interest to keep the protest civil and nonviolent,” he said.

Various on-campus supporters of Occupy St. Louis have different priorities in backing the movement. While Gott and Bauer are concerned about unfair foreclosures, Klagsbrun worries about corporate America’s influence on environmental issues.

Gott and Klagsbrun agree that media criticism over the movement’s lack of a unified message misses the point of Occupy Wall Street.

“The media seems to be treating it as if there should have been a unified message from day one, where part of the importance of this movement is a commitment to the process of coming up with messages together and hearing all people’s voices before deciding on demands,” Gott said.

Chris Singer, a graduate student in the engineering school, agreed that the movement makes an important statement.

“The economic system we live within is the reason why we constantly have to fight these battles around environmental issues,” Singer said. “It is the root cause and Wall Street is the place to make that message clear.”

He emphasized the importance of the movement for future generations, specifically the generation currently enrolled in college that will be competing for jobs in the future.

“Students have a large vested interest in coming to Occupy St. Louis,” Singer said. “This is about shaping what the future of the U.S. and the world is about. This is incredibly unique in that there has been widespread, open outrage against the most harmful economic system in the entire world.”

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

The campus branch of Bank of America will be closing from Friday until July 4 while renovations relocate the branch to the first floor of Mallinckrodt Center.

The Bank of America located on the second floor of Mallinckrodt Center will be closed from the end of the business day on Friday until July 4 because of renovations in the building.

Administrators hope that the closing will have a minimal effect on students.

“It’s more for the students, and that’s why the hours are geared to students,” said Amy Kweskin, the associate vice chancellor for finance.

The bank will reopen on the first floor of Mallinckrodt, east of the bookstore.

The ATM just outside Mallinckrodt will still be functional throughout the summer, except for a few hours on April 29.

The renovations are planned to occur over the summer when the fewest number of students are on campus.

“It’s primarily used during time students are here; that’s why it’s closed during the month of June,” said Martha Bradley, the University’s assistant treasurer.

Still, students wish that the bank would close after the majority of them left for the summer.

“It would have made more sense for them to have waited until exams were finished because students are still on campus,” said junior Jeff Marinshaw, who typically uses the bank once a year.

As a fully operational branch, the bank also serves faculty, employees and visitors.

Even though students are the primary users of the bank, many use it infrequently.

“I think a lot of people don’t even realize it is here,” said sophomore Elena Seligson, who has only used the bank twice. “Because I know in advance that the bank is closing, I can still use the ATMs and if I need a full branch I can go off campus.”

Each year, the bank is closed over winter and summer breaks.

Student groups that normally deposit money at the bank have been directed to other places where they can make these transactions.

There are ATMs on the South 40 next to the Gregg House storefronts, between Seigle Hall and the tennis courts and in the Village House. The nearest full-service Bank of America is located in Clayton at 7800 Forsyth Blvd., 1.5 miles from campus.

Matt Lee | Student Life

Washington University had an agreement with Bank of America in which the University received $3 for each card account opened by students. The agreement was terminated in July 2009.

But in July 2009, the University and Bank of America (BoA) changed that agreement. The University would no longer take money for every account sold to students, according to a copy of the agreement, which became publicly available last month.

The change to the agreement came three months after President Obama signed into law a bill requiring universities to disclose arrangements like the one the University had with Bank of America. Since the government released agreements last month, consumer advocates have criticized universities across the country for the agreements, saying they have been making money while setting up their students to misuse the credit cards. A recently released government report also shows the University took about $68,000 in royalties from BoA in 2009. Certain peer institutions took far more, in some cases more than $1 million, through similar agreements in exchange for giving banks access to mailing lists and marketing exclusivity.

In the original contract, which started in 1997, Washington University had to provide the names and contact information of at least 108,000 community members for BoA’s marketing purposes. Meanwhile, BoA paid the University $3 for each school-promoted, or “affinity,” card sold to students and alumni. Under the original contract, the bank also had to pay the University 0.4 percent of the value of all purchases students made using the accounts.

The University said it stopped including students’ names in the mailing lists sometime in the early 2000s. The University and BoA then changed royalty fees for student-bought accounts to zero in July 2009, effectively eliminating them. Royalty provisions in the contract now apply only for affinity cards opened by alumni. That change came after the federal government enacted the Credit CARD Act in May of that year, a credit-card reform law that, among other things, requires universities to publicly disclose the agreements they make with banks.

When asked how the agreement affects students, David Blasingame, executive vice chancellor for alumni and development programs, wrote in an e-mail that the affinity card is meant for alumni and the agreement does not apply to students. “Our contract with Bank of America does not apply to Washington University students, only to alumni,” he wrote.

University representatives didn’t respond to a question about why it removed the provision from the agreement in July 2009. But Pamella Henson, associate vice chancellor for alumni and development programs, did say Bank of America makes its affinity card offers based on the information the University provides. She said that students’ information used to be included, but hasn’t been included since the early 2000s, meaning the bank couldn’t have marketed the cards to students after that point.

After the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank issued a report in October showing the payments banks made to universities, commentators and consumer advocates accused universities of exploiting their students, making money as their students ended up with debt and bad credit from misusing the cards. This comes on the heels of a 2009 study by student-loan company Sallie Mae showing that the average college student graduates with more than $4,000 in credit-card debt.

Banks have responded that critics are blowing the issue out of proportion and that the affinity cards are targeted at alumni—not at students.

Student Life obtained a copy of the agreement between the University and BoA from the Federal Reserve. Universities and banks must give their marketing agreements to the Fed for public disclosure under the new law. In a recent report on universities’ agreements, the Federal Reserve predicted that banks and universities would change them in response to the new law: “The terms of some agreements may have been amended during 2010 as a result of new requirements imposed under the Credit CARD Act and the Board’s implementing regulations.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported in late October that Washington University received $68,093 in affinity-card royalties in 2009 from FIA, the BoA subsidiary that markets affinity cards at the University. University community members opened 57 affinity cards that year, according to the Federal Reserve’s report, but there is no breakdown of students and alumni.

Among other schools, Emory University received more than $50,000 in 2009. Other university alumni groups received far more money. Northwestern University got $428,572, Duke University’s alumni group received $1.38 million, and Harvard and Cornell universities’ alumni groups pocketed $1 million and $901,900, respectively.

The University does not release how it uses its royalty money. Blasingame wrote that the money “is deposited into an unrestricted gift that supports University priorities.”

The University is renegotiating its contract with BoA, Blasingame added.

Consumer advocate Edmund Mierzwinski said that banks have targeted undergraduate students for overpriced credit cards that they might not be able to afford by taking advantage of university budget problems to get administrators to sign up.

Mierzwinski praised the University for eliminating the provision that requires BoA to give it money for each affinity card sold to students.

“Universities should have a best practice of eliminating undergraduate students from school-branded credit card marketing as Wash. U. has done,” said Mierzwinski, who is the consumer program director for Public Interest Research Group, a Washington, D.C., consumer advocacy group.

Columnists such as The Washington Post’s Michelle Singletary have also argued that credit-card-marketing agreements between banks and universities often are not made in students’ best interest. “Schools also can’t conclude a deal in which the school earns a percentage of finance charges imposed on students,” she wrote in a recent column. “If a school currently has such an agreement, it must stop accepting payments immediately.”

Bank of America spokeswoman Betty Riess said that BoA has not singled out students. She said the bank has been targeting alumni and added that about 98 percent of affinity cards are bought by non-students. The bank doesn’t break down the numbers by school, she said.

“We do not market to students on campus and have not done so for some time, even before the CARD Act,” she added. “We have been amending agreements over the past few years to exclude student names from marketing lists provided by the schools.”

The relationship between BoA and Washington University extends past the range of this contract. After the bank donated more than $1 million to the school in 1998, the University established the position of Bank of America Professor of Managerial Leadership. Further, University trustee James Hance was chief financial officer of BoA from 1988 until 2004 and vice chairman between 1993 and 2005.

Retired BoA Professor of Managerial Leadership Stuart Greenbaum said he doesn’t believe that the ties to BoA are linked in any way.

“As far as I know, there’s zero connection between my chair and this affinity agreement,” Greenbaum said. “And Hance is an alum of the business school. I didn’t know him as an officer of Bank of America.”

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

The People’s Settlement is a five-day event in which participants camp out at Poelker Park at night and participate in demonstrations during the day on issues ranging from LBGT rights to environmental ethics.

This series of demonstrations draws from a variety of local activism groups and fosters a collaborative effort to combat what participants identify as “frustrations with corporate control of politics.”

Around 20 organizations are involved in the demonstrations, and hundreds of people are expected to attend throughout the five days.

Some of the participating activist groups include Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE), Climate Action St. Louis, Washington University Co-Op and the Catholic Action Network.

Matt Mitgang | Student Life

Students and community members camp out at Poelker Park as a part of a five-day event filled with protests targeted at corporate power and influence.

Junior Harry Alper, who plans to stay at the settlement all five nights, said the environment at the settlement is equally important to the event’s mission as are the demonstrations.

There will be free food and some forms of entertainment each night.

“I am really excited about the settlement itself, the bonding opportunity and the knowledge-sharing opportunity, and learning how a settlement like this operates,” Alper said.

Sophomore Deanna Parrish said she decided to attend the nightly planning meeting on Wednesday because she was interested in activism in the St. Louis community.

“I am interested as to how the few mobilizers on campus have been interested in expanding outward into the city and city movements and what [activism] is like outside of campus,” Parrish said.

Sophomore Mariana Oliver had never participated in an activism event before and was encouraged by Naomi Klein—an activist known for her criticism of corporate globalization who spoke on campus Wednesday afternoon—to become involved.

“I have never been part of an activism movement before, this is my first time and I figured it’s an awesome way to start it,” Oliver said.

The People’s Settlement started with a sit-in at Bank of America to protest the recent foreclosures. Protesters chanted in the lobby and demanded that an executive come down and speak with two customers whose homes were being foreclosed.

MORE Organizer Hannah Allison said the event was successful and the bank’s national office agreed to send someone from Washington, D.C., to St. Louis to meet with people and explain their practices.

“We were able to secure at least the beginning of our demands—the beginning of our process of how to meet these demands,” Allison said.

On Thursday morning approximately 35 people protested outside Laclede Gas Company’s office on Olive Street to speak out against the company’s LGBT policies.

According to a survey conducted by the Human Rights Campaign, Laclede Gas tied with Exxon Mobile in 2009 as the worst company in the nation for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people to work for.

On Friday the demonstrations will continue with a protest against Peabody Coal—the world’s largest private-sector coal company.

According to participants, it is important for people to be engaged with the community because St. Louis is the home to many major corporations. Demonstrators said that these companies feel they can get away with unethical practices because there is not yet a strong movement in St. Louis that will stand up against them.

“[Students] are in this city and we are purchasing customers of these companies in this city,” sophomore Arielle Klagsbrun said. “A lot of people don’t know that St. Louis is the hub of corporations who do a lot of not-so-awesome things.”

The People’s Settlement schedule of events:

All demonstrations start at Poelker Park at 13th and Market streets
FRIDAY, MARCH 26
11 a.m.-1 p.m. • Peabody Coal Action
3:30-5 p.m. • Anti-War Action

SATURDAY, MARCH 27
11 a.m.-1 p.m. • Race to the Top and the Privatization of Public Education Teach In
1-3 p.m. • Privatization of Education Bake Sale

SUNDAY, MARCH 28
1-3 p.m. • Faith-Based Action Catholic Action Network
3:30-5:30 p.m. • Labor History Tour

Several student groups still use Mallinckrodt for varying reasons despite the dominance of the Danforth University Center (DUC).

For example, students in Carnaval rely on Mallinckrodt because the show takes place in the Edison Theatre located there. The lower level of Mallinckrodt, including the former food court area and the Gargoyle, is also still used for rehearsals and as an area for performers to wait before going on stage.

Senior Nadia Abouzaid, co-chair for Carnaval, worries that renovating Mallinckrodt could render the meeting spaces inaccessible for performing groups. The old food court area is very useful now that the University made changes to it, according to Abouzaid.

“Once [the University] renovated it, it became a really prime space on campus to use for practice,” Abouzaid said.

Other performances, including Diwali, Lunar New Year Festival and Black Anthology rely on Mallinckrodt for similar reasons.
Abouzaid also noted that the DUC lacks any large spaces to practice.

“I feel like the University did a really poor job of planning when they built the DUC, because [there was] news that they wanted to tear down Mallinckrodt or renovate it, but they didn’t provide any alternate large practice spaces for students to use,” Abouzaid said.

Abouzaid is concerned that the University will close Mallinckrodt so that it can  do the planned renovations, leaving Carnaval performers with no place to practice.

“I have no idea what [Carnaval] isgoing to do if Mallinckrodt’s not open to them,” Abouzaid said. “I was really nervous about where our dancers were going to practice, but thankfully they didn’t do that.”

While performers may use the building frequently, most students go there much less often.

“I feel like Mallinckrodt as a building has become less central, because when the food court was situated in that building, I think it was really the center of campus life, and now it’s not as much. But for me, our dance groups definitely utilize those spaces for practice,” Abouzaid said.

With a maximum capacity of 499 as determined by the fire code, the Gargoyle is almost unmatched on campus in its ability to host events with large audiences like concerts.

Mallinckrodt also continues to draw students to the building’s many businesses, including FedEx Office, the Danforth Campus Bookstore and Bank of America.

“To me, [the Mallinckrodt Center is] basically where the campus store is and Bank of America is. Those are the only things I routinely use Mallinckrodt for,” sophomore Ben Ingell said. “The DUC doesn’t really replace it, all it seems to add to me is a new place to eat.”

Ingell also said that he rarely uses the DUC for anything other than the food areas and that he still goes to Mallinckrodt because he uses the businesses located there.

The University had planned to renovate the Mallinckrodt Center and provide additional space to the businesses that will remain there, but the plan was put on hold in response to the recent drop in the school’s endowment.

The renovation would have cost the University $20 million.

The University has not indicated when new construction projects will resume.