Class Issues Alliance hosts faculty panel

Brian Farkas News Editor Christopher Doscher Guest Writer

When it comes to diversity, gender, race and sexual orientation are among the first categories that come to mind. Socio-economic class is mentioned far less frequently in discussions of heterogeneity.

On Oct. 3, the Class Issues Alliance attempted to bring social status to the forefront of people’s mind. The organization held a panel discussion entitled, Confronting Class Boundaries. Moderated by Associate Dean of the College Edward Pittman, the panel was comprised of faculty from working-class backgrounds.

Co-President of the Class Issues Alliance Kathleen Brady-Stepien ’08 believed that the panel encouraged students to think critically about class dfferences. “Vassar is very good at actively engaging with issues such as race, gender, and sexuality, but we do not often address class,” she said. “I hope that this panel, [was] a stimulus for the Vassar community to begin thinking about class difference here at Vassar and in higher education.”

The panel featured Professor of English Michael Joyce, Professor of Sociology Eileen Leonard, Visiting Assistant Anthropology Professor Linta Varghese, and Assistant Professor of Psychology Joseph Atkins from Colby College.

“[The panel members] represent a broad range of backgrounds—in public universities, community colleges, liberal arts institutions—and have all experienced Vassar either as a student or as a professor,” said Brady-Stepien. Atkins attended the Exploring Transfer at Vassar program, which encourages community college students to attend four-year institutions, and eventually matriculated as a student here.

Varghese’s family emigrated from India in the early 1970s. Her mother was a nurse, and her father found a job as a mechanic for Oldsmobile/GM in Chicago. “My parents separated when I was a child, and eventually divorced. My brother and I were raised by my mother,” said Varghese.

She hoped that the discussion broadened students’ ideas of diversity. “I think it is important to talk about class, especially at an elite institution where it may not have a presence in our general discourse,” she said. “This opens up questions about access to education especially since we see education as one of the main venues to upward mobility.”

Joyce believes that the panel fits into a wider campus dialogue that has been spurred by new Vassar President Catharine Bond Hill and her commitment to all types of diversity. highlighted by the College’s return to need-blind admissions.

However, he believes that the College needs to discuss matters of socio-economic diversity as a community. “We need to examine the quotidian assumptions we make among ourselves, ranging from the simplest things like whether someone has the cash to eat at the Retreat, to more fundamental questions of inherent class prejudices, including ‘old boy’ networks for hiring.”

The Class of 2011 has 43 first-generation college students. “Being a first generation college student and/or a working class student at an elite institution is really a unique and often a trying experience,” said Brady-Stepien. “When we come to campus, most of us only continue to see how different we are from those around us who do not have to think about accruing thousands of dollars in loans.”

Joyce explained that class distinctions are often difficult to perceive. “For example, when a faculty member is brusque with a secretary or a clerk, when a student blithely tosses a used paper towel on the floor of a lavatory, and in more subtle ways…such as assuming that others have had common experiences of what we may not see as markers of privilege, ranging from summer camps to foreign travel to the ability to spend disposable income on fashionably ‘distressed’ designer jeans,” he said. “Their very invisibility adds to their hurt and reinforces their power.”

Associate Dean of the College Edward Pittman will act as moderator for the panel. Pittman, a Poughkeepsie native and former Vassar student said “When I was a student, I witnessed the boundaries on a daily basic—traveling in and out of a place of privilege into neighborhoods with fewer resources.” He added that his work with the College allows him to observe class differences on campus and bring a unique perspective to the panel.

“Overall, I hope the event will be educating and empowering for students and others at Vassar,” he said.