Hello! Welcome to the Class and Wealth at Carleton page run by Interfaith Social Action. We are a group of students who meet weekly in the Chapel Lounge to work on social action projects and reflect on why we do them. This year (2014-2015) we focused on class and wealth, beginning with the surreal and thorny task of navigating financial aid at Carleton and happily ending up here ... with you!
We want these stories to be a spark for thought and conversation. They were submitted by Carleton students, staff, and faculty during Spring Term of 2015 and are printed unedited with the exception of typos. They do not reflect the views of IFSA members. We reached out to and received a wide range of voices, but there are important perspectives left out. You can submit your own story here. In the coming year, the print publication will be revised, updated, and used as part of facilitated dialogues around campus in partnership with TRiO and Res Life. On this website, you will find an informational guide for navigating money at Carleton “beyond financial aid,” from music lessons to sports teams to CAMS classes. In addition, you will find a list of faculty and staff that have each volunteered to be supportive to students on class and financial barriers. We hope that these resources, and these stories, are helpful to you.
We would like to thank Robbie Emmet, Maryam Hedayati, Sarah Monaghan, Olivia Nyberg, Ben Strauss, and Jake Woodward: their dedication to IFSA kept the fire ablaze. Between engaging in long, hard reflections during meetings, to staying up late working on projects, to being silly together, we are so glad you were a part of this year. Our thanks also go to Nayely Martinez for contributing her design skills and Todd Campbell for effortlessly joining at the end to provide website design knowledge and laughter when we needed it.
We would also like to thank the faculty and staff that listened to our ideas, gave their time to support this project, and encouraged us to keep on. Thank you, Holly Buttrey, Adriana Estill, Patrick Gordon, Deborah Gross, Dev Gupta, Dani Kohen, David Liben-Nowell, Mitchell Madson, and Lori Pearson.
And finally, this all would not have been possible without the huge support of the Chapel. Carolyn, thank you for agreeing to delve into the unknown as we embarked on this new IFSA journey, and Jan, thank you for meeting our frenzied selves with never-ending patience. Thank you also to the IFSA alumni for creating this opening for reflection and action.
For the courageous individuals who submitted, thank you. And for the courageous person who is reading these testimonials, thank you. We hope this is just the beginning of a ongoing conversation.
Sincerely, Meg Crenshaw ’17 and Rebecca Spiro ‘15
Photograph: Friday Flower in Mailbox, 2007 by Wing Young Huie