Please join us tonight for an important general body meeting!
November General Body Meeting
Thursday, November 9, 6-7PM
Fairchild Room 900
At tonight’s meeting we will discuss our petition to President Bollinger to stop fighting real course for sexual harassment and the Trump/Republican tax bill that will have devastating effects on working people and our families, and what we can do to work together against it.
The proposal to eliminate the tax exempt status of our tuition waivers would more than double the taxable income of most RAs and TAs. This change would undermine affordability and accessibility of graduate school, thus cutting against the idea of a just and inclusive university that we fight for as a union.
If you haven’t already please take a moment to call Congress today!
Here is a sample script you can use:
Hi Representative ___
My name is ___ and I am a graduate student and (RA, TA, etc) at Columbia University. I’m calling to urge you to vote against the proposed tax bill since it will have dangerous effects on working people across the US. In particular, as a graduate student employee, the elimination of the exemption for tuition waivers in section 117(d) of the tax code would more than double my taxable income. This exemption has existed for many years so that people like myself can afford to attend graduate school by providing critical research and teaching work in exchange for a modest stipend and a non-taxable tuition waiver. The results of this change would be devastating to those who cannot otherwise afford graduate school and would inhibit our universities from recruiting the best and brightest regardless of background or economic means.
Thank you to everyone who came out to our “We Shall Not Be Trumped” rally on Low Steps yesterday. Together we demand that Columbia do better to live up to the values of our university – respect our democracy and bargain now!
