Cap Times Article about WCSU

Dear friends, allies, and constituents,

Todd Finkelmeyer, Higher Education Editor for The Cap Times, wrote an article for yesterday's print edition that focused on the Working Class Student Union. His article did a wonderful job of highlighting key aspects of this organization that I founded in October 2007, as well as using my personal story to highlight the struggles that working-class students and first-generation college students are facing.

"I'm kind of in this bubble where I don't qualify for a lot of money, but I don't have a lot of money -- so I'm basically on my own," said Haas.

To pay for school, Haas works 35 hours per week during the school year and about 60 a week over the summer. Even so, she figures she'll be about $23,000 in debt when she graduates next May.

It is these financial struggles -- as well as an awareness of what money can buy in terms of access to power and opportunities -- that prompted her in the fall of 2007 to found a student organization that gives a voice to working-class students at UW-Madison.

"I think it's important to ask why a working-class person should basically have to go bankrupt just to try and put themselves through college," said Frank Emspak, a professor emeritus with UW-Extension's School for Workers. "A working-class person in 1961, like myself, could put themselves through school without much trouble. So why should that have to be so different today? I think anytime someone can raise these topics -- because they go to issues of equity and fairness in society -- it's a plus."

The Working Class Student Union might well be the first of its kind in the nation. And while the organization is now run by a core of about 10 members, Haas hopes it can become more of a force on campus during the 2009-10 school year, when it will receive $63,000 in student fees from UW-Madison's student government for its operating budget.

Haas has no single definition for the term "working-class," but notes the tag often relates to what kind of work a person does, how much one earns and where a person is from.

I encourage you all to read the full article, as well as learn more about the Working Class Student Union.

Thanks,
Chynna