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  • May 1Congratulations, Class of 2025!
  • April 24Breaking: Non-tenured track faculty union ends strike but yet to reach an agreement
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    The student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901

    The Wellesley News

    The Wellesley News
    • News & Investigation
      • Senate Report
      • News in Brief
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    • Opinions
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Staff Editorial
    • The Wellesley Snooze
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      The student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901

      The Wellesley News

      Wellesley’s administration is forcing students to pay for their own mistakes

      As the union strike begins, the college has begun trying to use students as a bargaining chip.
      Riannon Last, Opinions Managing Editor | March 27, 2025 | 16,682 Views
      Wellesley’s administration is forcing students to pay for their own mistakes
      Joanne Kim

      As of March 27th, 2025, the non-tenured faculty union, WOAW-UAW has gone on strike at Wellesley, marking an unprecedented time in the college’s history. This strike comes after the college’s administration refused to thoroughly engage in good-faith bargaining and come to terms on many key proposals from the union, especially regarding compensation and workload. Now, in an unsurprising turn, the college has begun to place the full strain of the strike onto the backs of students and tenured faculty, while dodging accountability entirely. 

      The Provost’s office emailed students a shocking update today: essentially all striking courses without a lab will only be worth 0.5 credit unless a replacement (scab) professor is offered. This ultimately means that many students are no longer at the minimum number of credits to be considered full-time students at Wellesley, let alone seniors who need credits to graduate. Any Wellesley student on financial aid who does not meet the minimum 3 credit courseload requirement will lose their aid, and international students could lose their visa.

      The college’s solution, for the problem they artificially created, is allegedly to open up seats for students in tenured professors’ classes. This means that students will sign up to complete the semester in a course they did not attend for half of the semester, may have absolutely no prior knowledge in, and may not even be remotely interested in. On top of that, likely hundreds of seniors and students on financial aid will need to find open seats: these courses will likely become so crowded that it is impossible to gauge how these lectures could even continue to run, or how professors could handle this additional workload. Wellesley does not have many large classrooms available for courses over 32 students, and even 32-student courses can struggle to fit into their allocated classrooms. 

      70% of tenure track faculty have also pledged not to scab union classes. I assume this solidarity extends to them refusing to open their current courses to more students. If this is the case, very few departments would be able to even offer open seats to students. The economics department is one of the few departments that has decided not to stand with the union and instead scab their courses, so perhaps we will all be taking Econ 101 together in a classroom where we can’t even get desk space. 

      Let’s put this into perspective for a moment: the college has willingly decided to threaten students with losing their financial aid or visa status if they do not attend scab lectures or replace their current lectures with completely unrelated courses that are halfway through their content. This disgusting move by the college is deliberately meant to harm students. Other colleges such as the University of California, University of Illinois – Chicago, and Community College of Philadelphia have had similar strikes among faculty for very long durations. Despite this, none of these colleges took away students’ credit from their striking classes. These colleges even explicitly stated that the striking courses would not threaten students’ F1 visa status or financial aid, and some even offered refunds to students who had striking classes. 

      Wellesley College is deliberately threatening their students with major financial and immigration consequences if they support their striking faculty and could even withhold graduation from students in their final semester. Considering the college’s track record, this development is unsurprising but still incredibly underhanded. Students should not be used as a bargaining chip in the administration’s dispute with the union. I ask and hope that department chairs and tenure-track faculty refuse to open up seats in their courses for students and force the college to give students their fair and deserved full credit for their striking courses, as many other institutions have done in the past.

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      • P

        Puff | Apr 7, 2025 at 7:39 pm

        As an Econ major, I was disappointed to learn that the whole Econ department is choosing not to support the strike. Does anyone know why? Is it because of the Provost and fear of retaliation? What other departments have chosen to not support the union?

        – Class of 2011

        Reply
        https://thewellesleynews.com/21038/opinions/wellesleys-administration-is-forcing-students-to-pay-for-their-own-mistakes/#comment-1424
      • M

        Mehak | Mar 31, 2025 at 2:12 pm

        Gosh, this is the absolute worse of Wellesley on display. It’s disheartening and disappointing to see the administration treating faculty this way. Faculty are THE STARS of Wellesley. Pay them what they deserve. The starting salaries are appalling. For a college that claims to care about (and publish research on) childcare, not covering childcare costs is embarrassing. Administration ought to be ashamed of themselves.

        -Class of 2018

        Reply
        https://thewellesleynews.com/21038/opinions/wellesleys-administration-is-forcing-students-to-pay-for-their-own-mistakes/#comment-1417
      • M

        MJ | Mar 30, 2025 at 2:25 pm

        For the record, UIC, who you called out, has never had a long strike. In this educational climate it’s unclear if it’s the college imposing limited credit and enrollment or the current federal government

        Reply
        https://thewellesleynews.com/21038/opinions/wellesleys-administration-is-forcing-students-to-pay-for-their-own-mistakes/#comment-1415
      • C

        Carolyn Magid | Mar 29, 2025 at 3:03 pm

        As an alumna (class of 1967) and former faculty member (1971-73), I am appalled at the College’s treatment of striking faculty and students. Colleges and universities have gotten away with underpaying and denying reasonable benefits and working conditions to untenured faculty for too long. The College’s plan suggests complete and willful disregard for the needs of students and the educational process. I strongly support the strikers and the students and faculty who are in solidarity. Thanks to the author of this excellent op ed. I hope light it and other reporting shine on Wellesley’s bad behavior will help change it.

        Reply
        https://thewellesleynews.com/21038/opinions/wellesleys-administration-is-forcing-students-to-pay-for-their-own-mistakes/#comment-1414
      • A

        Anita Russo Bartschat | Mar 29, 2025 at 8:33 am

        I’m holding back on any financial contribution to Wellesley until the administration returns my Alma mater to the wonderful college I attended. This is no time to add additional stress especially for our students who are learners on scholarship or visas. If this is not rectified it will be the first year since 1991 that I have not participated. I will invest my money with an organization that is truly aiding students.

        Reply
        https://thewellesleynews.com/21038/opinions/wellesleys-administration-is-forcing-students-to-pay-for-their-own-mistakes/#comment-1412
      • J

        Juliana | Mar 28, 2025 at 9:35 pm

        Two things:

        1. I’m embarrassed as an alum to be associated with an administration using its students as pawns to suppress the labor rights of their faculty. Beyond irresponsible and blatantly malicious. Especially as international students’ situations become increasingly precarious. What on earth are students paying this school nearly six figures a year for if not a full education?

        2. The 70% of the tenured professors standing with the striking faculty – thank you, so much. Many of the alums I know chose Wellesley for the faculty and in a time where professors in this country seem to not know how to put their jobs or reputations on the line for the sake of a bigger cause, I’m touched to see such solidarity.

        Reply
        https://thewellesleynews.com/21038/opinions/wellesleys-administration-is-forcing-students-to-pay-for-their-own-mistakes/#comment-1410
      • M

        M | Mar 28, 2025 at 8:43 pm

        In a time where the Trump administration is eagerly eyeing any chance to cancel the visas of international students, this is especially egregious and disgusting. For shame.

        Reply
        https://thewellesleynews.com/21038/opinions/wellesleys-administration-is-forcing-students-to-pay-for-their-own-mistakes/#comment-1409
      • S

        Sam | Mar 28, 2025 at 8:25 pm

        This seems like a very neoliberal way to get students deported. I am so disgusted and disappointed to read this ! Students on financial aid and immigrants are not pawns or props!

        Reply
        https://thewellesleynews.com/21038/opinions/wellesleys-administration-is-forcing-students-to-pay-for-their-own-mistakes/#comment-1408