• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
      Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
    • CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
      CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
    • WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
      WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
      Why Art Basel is partially responsible for Miami’s gentrification
    • It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
      It’s time to put traditional grading to the test
    • What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
      What can the fall of Z-library teach us about textbook accessibility?
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • No image
      Pentimento’s Open Mic is Like an Old Patchwork Quilt–Worn, Yet Cozy
    • No image
      Kanye’s Antisemitism Steps on his Shoe Brand
    • Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
      Lousy Realities: Luca Guadagnino (2015)
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Student-Athlete of October
      Student-Athlete of October
    • Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
      Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
    • The Case for Body Neutrality
      The Case for Body Neutrality
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
      Top 10 Girlbosses who aren’t alumnae, but I would totally believe you if you told me they were
    • Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
      Wendy Wellesley’s Thanksgiving Menu
    • The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
      The Snooze Awards for the Best Tanners of 2022
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Rachel Pak News, News and FeaturesFebruary 25, 2017

Wellesley College Democrats to subsidize student transportation to rallies

Student examines recent news article during a Wellesley College Democrats meeting. | Photo by Audrey Stevens '17, Photo Editor

The Wellesley College Democrats (WCD) sent out a Google Form to the student body on Feb. 5 gauging student interest in attending major rallies taking place this semester across the country. In order to participate in these protests, students would have to travel to and from Boston on the Peter Pan shuttle, which can be an expensive commute. This semester, the WCD is addressing what can be a prohibitive cost for some students to pay in order to be politically active.

The purpose of this Google Form was to help the WCD complete its Student Organization Funding Committee (SOFC) application with robust information to justify their proposal to subsidize transportation for students to the following three rallies: General Strike: A Day Without a Woman, which is set for March 8, Tax Day Rally, which will take place on April 15 and March for Science, which will occur on April 22.

The response to the Google Form was substantial, according to the WCD president, Ivana Castro ’18. Using the data collected from the survey, the WCD successfully completed their SOFC application and received the requested funding.

“We had over 125 responses and 54 (43.2% of respondents) of those students expressed interest in attending all three rallies and attending more rallies. SOFC was able to fully fund our transportation and supplies to make signs for the rallies. We intend to make sign-making and attending the protest as an event for our org,” Castro said.

The WCD’s plan to support student transportation to rallies is part of the organization’s mission to serve the Wellesley community by making political activism accessible to all students.

“It is important now more than ever that people continue to be involved with the political process to ensure that all people are represented. This year we have been focusing on equity initiatives such as providing transportation to the polls and rallies because we do not want financial constraints to limit a person’s ability to engage with the political process and community activism. Therefore, we are hoping that this initiative will encourage students to act in solidarity with communities that have been and continue to be marginalized,” Castro stated.

Sarah White ’19 and Shannon Dennehy ’19, the founders of the Facebook Group “Wellesley Marches,” agree that this push towards making protests and rallies available to all students is necessary and important. The group, which has 361 members, allows students who want to take part in political activism to connect with and support each other.

“Often, lower-income students are the people most affected by the issues promoted in the protests and rallies, which makes it all the more unfair that something like transportation costs would bar them from attending,” White said. “One of the reasons Sarah and I started the group was to make rallies and protests more accessible to students. It can be costly going back and forth on the Peter, which I’ve always found frustrating given that on tours, it’s always said that Wellesley has a free shuttle to Boston (which is only true during the week, when fewer students use it),” Dennehy added.

According to SOFC’s Head Bookkeeper, Rose Whitlock ‘18, SOFC’s decision to fund the WCD’s plan is not unprecedented.

“Any SOAC-constituted org can receive SOFC funds to further its organizational purpose and goals. Since we usually have a number of political orgs active at any time, SOFC funds have gone towards political activism in the past,” Whitlock explained.

While some students incorrectly view this allocation of funds towards the subsidization of student transportation as Wellesley College itself making a political statement, Whitlock pointed out that this is not the case.

“I think it’s important to note here that SOFC funds come from the Student Activities Fee, so we can think of Wellesley students through SOFC funds providing the transportation, it’s not really the college or the administration paying for it,” Whitlock noted. As many students are becoming interested in attending the three rallies throughout the semester, Castro and the WCD is working to solidify the details of their plan to fund transportation to Boston.

“Based off our initial interest form, we will limit the capacity for students based off the responses we received. A week before the protest, we will send out RSVP forms so that we can know who is interested in going with our org to these rallies. We will purchase punch passes with the money we received from SOFC. However, since so many students are interested in attending these rallies we plan to reach out to the President’s office and other academic departments,” Castro said.

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleNew housing process introduced at Wellesley
Next articleWellesley’s Career Education effectively implements new initiatives and garners positive feedback

You may also like

Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”

CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure

WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

Sorry. No data so far.

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top