WashU has a long history of competing with peer institutions to provide students with the best campus experience. However, they continue to lack in providing one fundamental necessity: free laundry. Students, particularly those who identify as First-Generation and Low-Income (FG-LI), face continual obstacles to the most basic necessities. At a top university that recently adopted a need-blind admission system, this is unacceptable. While access to WashU for students from historically marginalized communities has been one of the top administrative priorities, access doesn’t always equal inclusion. The University has an obligation to provide basic necessities such as laundry services to alleviate the stress that FG-LI students already face. 

The Student Union Senate calls on the University to extend the First Year Startup Grant administered by the Financial Aid office for a second year, as a means of easing laundry costs for students receiving financial aid and providing a comprehensive support system in and out of the classroom. 

Over the last few years, a laundry subsidy has consistently been one of the top diversity, equity, and inclusion issues for WashU students as reported in our annual SU Senate Improve WashU survey. And for us and the Student Union, that is enough of a reason for the University to start acting. Since its inception, the First Year Startup Grant has provided WashU students with extraordinary economic support. The First Year Startup Grant consists of $1,550 in waived summer work expectation, $500 in bookstore credit, and a general $1,000 grant. This grant lowers financial anxieties and de-emphasizes the costs of a WashU education, allowing first-year students to chase academic excellence and actively participate within the WashU and Saint Louis community. Because more than anything, that is what the First Year Startup Grant is: a “big hug,” as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Anna Gonzalez would call it, that looks to incorporate students into our community, no matter their access to opportunity. By extending the First Year Startup Grant administered by the Financial Aid office for a second year, the University has the opportunity to do what is right.

Across their four years, students — particularly those who are Pell-Eligible — still face the economic challenges of buying necessary school items like books for classes, residential hall supplies, and most importantly, affording laundry services on a weekly basis. So while these challenges persist, it is unacceptable that the First Year Startup Grant is only distributed during students’ freshman year.

The average WashU washing machine costs $1.25 per wash, and the average WashU dryer costs the same amount per dry. However, taking these costs at face value is myopic. Laundry costs easily accumulate beyond $1.25. First of all, when students wash their clothes, they have multiple loads of laundry. Assume the average WashU student completes two loads of washes per week (and some launder more often). Considering the process of separating your white clothes from your normal clothes, the $1.25 cost per wash starts to look something more like $4 or $5, and that is before the drying process! WashU dryers are notorious for being absolutely horrendous when it comes to drying people’s clothes. It already costs $1.25 per dry cycle and students often need to complete one or two extra drying cycles after the first attempt as their clothes are still damp. Students deserve more.

Between the process of separating your clothes before washing them, navigating the fact that campus dryers are often inefficient, and the reality that both our dryers and washers are incredibly small, necessitating multiple loads, the price skyrockets. So when doing laundry, students can spend an upward of $7 to $12 per week on laundry. We have an average of 16 weeks per semester, which means students can spend anywhere between $150 to $200 on laundry per semester or $300 to $400 per academic year. This is outrageous. 

WashU, you just recently announced your “Here and Next” 10-year strategic vision, as well as your Make Way initiative. One of the major pillars of your strategic vision is equity, and your Make Way initiative centers around the mission of diversifying the student body and removing financial barriers. As such, extending the First Year Startup Grant should be a no brainer. Extending this grant is directly tied to your mission statement, and doing otherwise is doing a disservice to the campus community, and turning backs to your words. 

WashU: The Student Union Senate, and all students, are calling on you to extend the First Year Startup Grant for a second year, as a means of easing laundry cost for students receiving financial aid. The economic barriers that FG-LI students face during their first year don’t end when they enter their sophomore year. People still need help buying books, residential supplies, and most importantly, affording laundry services. Paying upwards of $380 during an academic year on laundry is unacceptable. Instead of doing laundry, FG-LI students could be using that $400 to invest in themselves and their college experience. To cover for unexpected class expenses, buy a Halloween costume, and maybe, grab dinner with friends on Delmar Loop or downtown Saint Louis. These are all important college experiences that are being hindered by needless costs. There are those that can afford it, but those who greatly depend on grants and scholarships like the First Year Startup Grant need economic support. Extending the Startup Grant is the logical continuation of WashU’s commitment to supporting first-generation and low-income students. 

Signed,

Hussein Amuri, Senate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Chair

Israel Fulton, Senate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Member

Erin Ritter, Senate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Member

Bela Stampes-Blackburn, Senate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Member

Pat Wang, Senate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Member

Ethan Glazer, Senate Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Member

Editor’s note: Hussein Amuri is a Sports Editor for Student Life. Beyond contributing to writing it, he had no influence in the process of editing or publishing this article.