Katie Lawson
Contributor
It was nearly five years ago, but I clearly remember my first tour of the Hill. I was immediately drawn in by the look and feel of this campus, by its landscape and scenery. Without a doubt the people responsible for making our campus so attractive- the physical plant crew- influenced my decision to choose McDaniel over other schools.
On several occasions over the course of my four years here, I have seen students working side by side with physical plant staff members. This “work assignment,” as it is called by the student handbook, is considered a “sanction for student misconduct.”
To put it another way, students caught in violation of campus rules are sometimes punished by being sent to work with the maintenance, grounds, or housekeeping crew.
It is time to stop and think about the message this policy sends to both workers and students.
To students, it promotes the elitist idea that we are superior to someone who mops floors or spreads mulch.
It is as if to say that one only ends up with these types of jobs because he or she has done something wrong.
The message this policy sends to the physical plant crew is even worse. As one anonymous worker put it, “You got punished, so they send you out here with us. What does that mean we are?”
“That’s kind of messed up that it’s a punishment. It’s not like anybody else is going to do what we do,” adds another worker.
The work done by maintenance, grounds, and housekeeping workers is important and dignified, not punishment. To make their honest living into the equivalent of punishment is immoral, arrogant, and insulting.
One worker told me, “We feel like we’re not even part of the campus. We don’t feel respected; we feel looked down upon. We don’t feel included.” These thoughts were echoed by several coworkers. Some insight into why they feel this way can be found by looking at their unsuitable work space and old equipment.
A long list of grievances, of which the “work assignment” policy is only one part, breeds these feelings of indignation. Changing this policy would be just one of the ways to show our physical plant staff that we respect them and appreciate their skills and hard work.
Last semester, I sent an email to Dean Towle criticizing this policy. She invited me to her office where we talked for quite some time. Within the first minute of our meeting, it became clear to me that Dean Towle had never thought about the negative message this policy sends to students and the physical plant staff.
To her credit, Dean Towle mentioned that (after receiving my email) she had asked someone at physical plant if the workers viewed this policy as insulting. She was told that they do not. While I certainly can not speak for everyone who works at physical plant, my own interviews revealed that some workers are offended by this policy.
Let me be clear: I mean no personal disrespect toward Dean Towle or any other student or faculty member of the McDaniel Honor & Conduct Board. The fact that the morality of the school’s punishment system has never been questioned is simply emblematic of a much larger problem that is not unique to this college.
A general disrespect for working class people has been developed by our economic system and is perpetuated by the culture this system has created.
We value lawyers in urban office buildings, but how often do we think about the transit workers who keep cities moving by operating subways and buses? Why, as a society, do we tell our kids to grow up to be doctors and businessmen, as if there is something wrong with being a hairdresser or a carpenter?
Working class people do the jobs required to keep society functioning. The world would not stop turning if nobody showed up to the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow. But what if the people who build bridges and pave roads stopped doing their jobs? Then what?
I am not asking McDaniel College to change the way the whole country views work. I am simply asking them to reject a values system which promotes inequality, prejudice, and classism.
I have asked friends at other colleges and universities, including Boston University, Duquesne University, Smith College, Rider University, The College of New Jersey, Stockton College, Knox College, Ramapo College, and the University of New England. To the best of their knowledge, none of these schools have a policy like McDaniel’s “work assignment.”
Stricter fines, mandatory alcohol education classes, and loss of campus housing are some of the punishments used on other campuses. Or, as one worker put it, we could “send them over to the hospital” to do real community service.
McDaniel already uses some of these methods in some cases, so it would not be too difficult to transition away from “work assignments.”
Our maintenance staff and all other workers deserve respect. It is time for the college to adopt a new discipline policy that does not degrade anyone, especially members of our own community.