Employees at Saint Louis University claim the university continues to offer an “unacceptable wage package,” one that they have overwhelmingly turned down three times as SLU’s negotiation team offers little change.

The employees consist of Service Employees International Union local 1 janitors, ground and maintenance crew workers on campus. They claim as a collective that they are being underappreciated by the university despite ensuring a clean and safe campus environment.

About 25 union workers gathered in front of the Busch Student Center on Thursday, April 25, in protest of SLU’s wage package and subsections within the contract.

According to a website made by the workers, “SLU is demanding a four-year agreement with insufficient wage increases and unfavorable outsourcing language that threatens these working peoples’ jobs and livelihoods.”

As of now, SLU’s custodial staff is making around $15 an hour and groundskeeping staff makes around $19 an hour. Both are considered essential workers by SLU, which means that on days where class is canceled due to weather, emergencies or other cancellations, these workers still have to show up.

Sonya Harris, a custodial employee as well as a shop stewardess, has worked at SLU for 17 years. Now, most of her work is in Ritter Hall where she cleans every classroom entirely.

Harris helped organize the protest, in an effort to convey her frustrations with the contract negotiations and understaffing issues.

“We are very short staffed,” Harris said. “We are about seven people short to their standards, but in my opinion, we need at least 10 or 12 more people.”

Harris echoed the sentiments of many others at the protest that their work is often overwhelming, and they may not be able to always complete all of their tasks by the end of their shifts.

“That’s why we need more staff because we don’t have enough to be in the dorms and the buildings. The buildings will get neglected if you don’t have enough staff,” Harris said.

Harris explained that what her and the other staff want is a living wage. She said that most of the staff, including herself, have second jobs.

Harris does administrative data entry for medical facilities from home to supplement her income. Her hope is to become an administrator at either a hospital or a nursing facility.

Another employee who works in custodial services for the past five years, Mitchell Hughes, mainly works with setting up different events that SLU hosts, also has a second job. He has had his own security business since he was 16, lasting 40 years.

“We’re getting paid the equivalent of a Burger King worker,” Hughes said. “I would like to be appreciated, but for me, appreciation is the bottom line.”

Hughes explained that his current wage is not enough to support his family which consists of his wife, nine children and nine grandchildren.

“My daughter is 17, and she makes more money than I make. She makes $17 an hour. She works at St. Louis Bread Company,” Hughes said.

Hughes resonated with Harris’s statements in understaffing.

“The reason we don’t have help is because they don’t want to pay [for the help],” Hughes said.

Groundskeeper Tommy Wessel, has worked for SLU for 17 years. His work requires him to be outside all day, and sometimes night.

“Everything you see outdoors is affected by us,” Wessel said. “Whether it be the concrete, trees, flowerbeds, the grass or the trash. Everywhere from campus, to the parking lots, including lots off of campus.”

Wessel said with graduation coming up and understaffing concerns, they just can not keep up. As of now, there are about 12 to 14 groundskeepers maintaining the entire campus. According to Wessel, there should be about 18 to 20, but he thinks there should be even more.

“We’ve asked if they are going to hire anybody, and they say they can’t hire anybody when there is a contract dispute,” Wessel said, concerned of ongoing end-of-year pressures.

“We’re not asking for something outrageous,” Hughes said. “When you come on to this university’s campus, you look at the grounds. You don’t see trash floating around this place. When you go inside, the trash cans are empty, the floors are clean. All of these things are important.”

“We voted [contracts] down three times now. The last time we voted it down, we went back the next day, and they said ‘No, that was our offer. Go vote on that again.’”

Harris said that custodial services are looking to get at least $17 an hour. Instead, she said that SLU has offered them a $1.75 incremental pay increase over a three year contract. Comparatively, the groundskeepers are asking for a minimum increase of $3.

“SLU has a lot of money. It will not hurt them to pay us that,” Harris said. “We feel very disrespected with the offer they came back with, and they’re not willing to change it.”

Harris also noted that SLU offered a signing bonus in the contract.

“They’re offering a signing bonus, which is not really a bonus because they’ve given that as a gift to other employees [before],” Haris said. “I really feel that should not even be a part of the negotiation and should just be a part of appreciation for us.”

Harris added that many workers are afraid of losing their jobs because their contract has a clause that permits the university to sub-contract out other employees while giving current employees only a 30 day notice of their replacement.

According to Wessel, they are already outsourcing custodial positions in the south campus, as there are no SLU specific custodians working there. Recently, he said he noticed outsourced contractors laying mulch on the north campus at the art museum.

“There were contractors in there taking care of that they’ve contracted out,” Wessel said. “When I asked why we weren’t going to do that. We were told ‘well, you know, you just can’t get to everything.’ Hire guys. We will get to it.”

Wessel expressed worries of sub-contracting out external workers outside of their job security, but also in the level of care those contractors will produce. This worry stems from the fact that most of SLU’s groundskeepers have worked for SLU on average 15 years, according to Wessel.

“I think that shows a level of care and commitment that you don’t get with some company that comes in and gets the job done, and they work quickly.”

Wessel said that he and other groundskeepers even keep an eye out for those who are peering into cars looking for something to steal. He said they always report it because of their genuine care for the students.

“There’s so many people that stop us as we walk across campus and recognize this. There’s a level of familiarity with students, professors and with office employees,” Wessel said. “I think that makes people comfortable seeing the same people each day in and day out, as opposed to just some random people that come and want to get their work finished and get up out of here.”

Wessel said that last year, SLU gave their maintenance workers a $5 raise because they were leaving to work at other schools, mainly Washington University.

“There are people who are scared of speaking up,” Wessel said. “They say, ‘well, if we make too much of a stink, they’re just going to get rid of us.’”

Similarly, others such as Hughes, said they simply want “a fair contract and a fair length of time.”

“​​Students have said ‘hey, all things being equal between here [and other schools], we chose this [SLU] because of the way the grounds look,’” Wessel said. “You just want to go to work, do your job and not have to deal with the B.S. outside of it. Everyone just wants to be happy in their job.”

Mia King, the bargaining agent for grounds, custodial and distribution workers, said the most important thing she is tackling is job security.

“They can give us a $5 an hour raise today, and then subcontract all our work out in 30 days. So that’s not helpful for us,” King said.

According to John (J.P.) Hasman, the lead negotiator for the president’s office, the existing subcontracting language has existed in the contract without issue since the 1970s, he explained via email.

“We just want some protections for these workers,” King said. “Some of them have worked here for 20 years plus. They deserve to know that their jobs are safe. That’s the biggest part, and SLU has basically ignored that.”

King also said that they have attempted to meet with president Pestello four times now, as he is the deciding factor alongside the board of trustees in the contract.

“All four times, he’s not there,” King said. “We have not had one conversation with him.”

King added that they even went as far to ask Alderwoman Megan Green to write a letter on their behalf; still, no response.

“The only thing I want to know is why President Pestello won’t meet with us,” King said. “His interests are not in these workers.”

In an email to The University News from President Pestello, he said he is committed to ensuring that the union workers and all SLU employees continue to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect.

“As negotiations with the union continue, I want to reaffirm my deep appreciation for the essential work that our custodial, grounds and distribution staff do every day,” Pestello said.

Pestello added that he remains optimistic about reaching an agreement that recognizes their valued contributions to the University.

“Amid the many challenges and uncertainties facing all universities, we are proud to have offered our dedicated facilities workers a contract with historic pay increases and unmatched benefits,” Pestello said.

SLU offered the union three contract options: a three-year contract, a four-year contract and a five-year contract.

The three-year contract consists of a $2.25 raise over the three years with a $150 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $21.25 and custodians’ to $17.25.

The four-year contract consists of a $3 raise over the four years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22 and custodians to $18.

The five-year contract consists of a $3.25 raise over the five years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22.25 and custodians to $18.25.

“These offers also include increasing their sick days, increasing their emergency call in pay to double time, continuing to fully subsidize employee health insurance, and our retirement match and tuition program providing almost free tuition to these employees and their children,” Hasman said. “These benefits are unmatched in our area.”

During the protest, the union workers emphasized that they wanted their raises now and to not be trapped into a long contract for adequate compensation.

“Given the recent communication from the President’s Office about our current year budget deficit and continued uncertainties related to delays in enrollment brought about by the FAFSA delays and pressures on higher education generally, the university believes our offers with guaranteed meaningful increases recognizes the valued contributions of our colleagues in light of these realities,” Hasman said.

The union employees remain hopeful that they will reach an agreement that favors their work.

“Without our work, the business would not run as it does. Even students have given input and say we’re needed and they appreciate us,” Harris said. “We feel more appreciated by our students than we do by our higher ups.”

Employees at Saint Louis University claim the university continues to offer an “unacceptable wage package,” one that they have overwhelmingly turned down three times as SLU’s negotiation team offers little change.

The employees consist of Service Employees International Union local 1 janitors, ground and maintenance crew workers on campus. They claim as a collective that they are being underappreciated by the university despite ensuring a clean and safe campus environment.

About 25 union workers gathered in front of the Busch Student Center on Thursday, April 25, in protest of SLU’s wage package and subsections within the contract.

According to a website made by the workers, “SLU is demanding a four-year agreement with insufficient wage increases and unfavorable outsourcing language that threatens these working peoples’ jobs and livelihoods.”

As of now, SLU’s custodial staff is making around $15 an hour and groundskeeping staff makes around $19 an hour. Both are considered essential workers by SLU, which means that on days where class is canceled due to weather, emergencies or other cancellations, these workers still have to show up.

Sonya Harris, a custodial employee as well as a shop stewardess, has worked at SLU for 17 years. Now, most of her work is in Ritter Hall where she cleans every classroom entirely.

Harris helped organize the protest, in an effort to convey her frustrations with the contract negotiations and understaffing issues.

“We are very short staffed,” Harris said. “We are about seven people short to their standards, but in my opinion, we need at least 10 or 12 more people.”

Harris echoed the sentiments of many others at the protest that their work is often overwhelming, and they may not be able to always complete all of their tasks by the end of their shifts.

“That’s why we need more staff because we don’t have enough to be in the dorms and the buildings. The buildings will get neglected if you don’t have enough staff,” Harris said.

Harris explained that what her and the other staff want is a living wage. She said that most of the staff, including herself, have second jobs.

Harris does administrative data entry for medical facilities from home to supplement her income. Her hope is to become an administrator at either a hospital or a nursing facility.

Another employee who works in custodial services for the past five years, Mitchell Hughes, mainly works with setting up different events that SLU hosts, also has a second job. He has had his own security business since he was 16, lasting 40 years.

“We’re getting paid the equivalent of a Burger King worker,” Hughes said. “I would like to be appreciated, but for me, appreciation is the bottom line.”

Hughes explained that his current wage is not enough to support his family which consists of his wife, nine children and nine grandchildren.

“My daughter is 17, and she makes more money than I make. She makes $17 an hour. She works at St. Louis Bread Company,” Hughes said.

Hughes resonated with Harris’s statements in understaffing.

“The reason we don’t have help is because they don’t want to pay [for the help],” Hughes said.

Groundskeeper Tommy Wessel, has worked for SLU for 17 years. His work requires him to be outside all day, and sometimes night.

“Everything you see outdoors is affected by us,” Wessel said. “Whether it be the concrete, trees, flowerbeds, the grass or the trash. Everywhere from campus, to the parking lots, including lots off of campus.”

Wessel said with graduation coming up and understaffing concerns, they just can not keep up. As of now, there are about 12 to 14 groundskeepers maintaining the entire campus. According to Wessel, there should be about 18 to 20, but he thinks there should be even more.

“We’ve asked if they are going to hire anybody, and they say they can’t hire anybody when there is a contract dispute,” Wessel said, concerned of ongoing end-of-year pressures.

“We’re not asking for something outrageous,” Hughes said. “When you come on to this university’s campus, you look at the grounds. You don’t see trash floating around this place. When you go inside, the trash cans are empty, the floors are clean. All of these things are important.”

“We voted [contracts] down three times now. The last time we voted it down, we went back the next day, and they said ‘No, that was our offer. Go vote on that again.’”

Harris said that custodial services are looking to get at least $17 an hour. Instead, she said that SLU has offered them a $1.75 incremental pay increase over a three year contract. Comparatively, the groundskeepers are asking for a minimum increase of $3.

“SLU has a lot of money. It will not hurt them to pay us that,” Harris said. “We feel very disrespected with the offer they came back with, and they’re not willing to change it.”

Harris also noted that SLU offered a signing bonus in the contract.

“They’re offering a signing bonus, which is not really a bonus because they’ve given that as a gift to other employees [before],” Haris said. “I really feel that should not even be a part of the negotiation and should just be a part of appreciation for us.”

Harris added that many workers are afraid of losing their jobs because their contract has a clause that permits the university to sub-contract out other employees while giving current employees only a 30 day notice of their replacement.

According to Wessel, they are already outsourcing custodial positions in the south campus, as there are no SLU specific custodians working there. Recently, he said he noticed outsourced contractors laying mulch on the north campus at the art museum.

“There were contractors in there taking care of that they’ve contracted out,” Wessel said. “When I asked why we weren’t going to do that. We were told ‘well, you know, you just can’t get to everything.’ Hire guys. We will get to it.”

Wessel expressed worries of sub-contracting out external workers outside of their job security, but also in the level of care those contractors will produce. This worry stems from the fact that most of SLU’s groundskeepers have worked for SLU on average 15 years, according to Wessel.

“I think that shows a level of care and commitment that you don’t get with some company that comes in and gets the job done, and they work quickly.”

Wessel said that he and other groundskeepers even keep an eye out for those who are peering into cars looking for something to steal. He said they always report it because of their genuine care for the students.

“There’s so many people that stop us as we walk across campus and recognize this. There’s a level of familiarity with students, professors and with office employees,” Wessel said. “I think that makes people comfortable seeing the same people each day in and day out, as opposed to just some random people that come and want to get their work finished and get up out of here.”

Wessel said that last year, SLU gave their maintenance workers a $5 raise because they were leaving to work at other schools, mainly Washington University.

“There are people who are scared of speaking up,” Wessel said. “They say, ‘well, if we make too much of a stink, they’re just going to get rid of us.’”

Similarly, others such as Hughes, said they simply want “a fair contract and a fair length of time.”

“​​Students have said ‘hey, all things being equal between here [and other schools], we chose this [SLU] because of the way the grounds look,’” Wessel said. “You just want to go to work, do your job and not have to deal with the B.S. outside of it. Everyone just wants to be happy in their job.”

Mia King, the bargaining agent for grounds, custodial and distribution workers, said the most important thing she is tackling is job security.

“They can give us a $5 an hour raise today, and then subcontract all our work out in 30 days. So that’s not helpful for us,” King said.

According to John (J.P.) Hasman, the lead negotiator for the president’s office, the existing subcontracting language has existed in the contract without issue since the 1970s, he explained via email.

“We just want some protections for these workers,” King said. “Some of them have worked here for 20 years plus. They deserve to know that their jobs are safe. That’s the biggest part, and SLU has basically ignored that.”

King also said that they have attempted to meet with president Pestello four times now, as he is the deciding factor alongside the board of trustees in the contract.

“All four times, he’s not there,” King said. “We have not had one conversation with him.”

King added that they even went as far to ask Alderwoman Megan Green to write a letter on their behalf; still, no response.

“The only thing I want to know is why President Pestello won’t meet with us,” King said. “His interests are not in these workers.”

In an email to The University News from President Pestello, he said he is committed to ensuring that the union workers and all SLU employees continue to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect.

“As negotiations with the union continue, I want to reaffirm my deep appreciation for the essential work that our custodial, grounds and distribution staff do every day,” Pestello said.

Pestello added that he remains optimistic about reaching an agreement that recognizes their valued contributions to the University.

“Amid the many challenges and uncertainties facing all universities, we are proud to have offered our dedicated facilities workers a contract with historic pay increases and unmatched benefits,” Pestello said.

SLU offered the union three contract options: a three-year contract, a four-year contract and a five-year contract.

The three-year contract consists of a $2.25 raise over the three years with a $150 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $21.25 and custodians’ to $17.25.

The four-year contract consists of a $3 raise over the four years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22 and custodians to $18.

The five-year contract consists of a $3.25 raise over the five years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22.25 and custodians to $18.25.

“These offers also include increasing their sick days, increasing their emergency call in pay to double time, continuing to fully subsidize employee health insurance, and our retirement match and tuition program providing almost free tuition to these employees and their children,” Hasman said. “These benefits are unmatched in our area.”

During the protest, the union workers emphasized that they wanted their raises now and to not be trapped into a long contract for adequate compensation.

“Given the recent communication from the President’s Office about our current year budget deficit and continued uncertainties related to delays in enrollment brought about by the FAFSA delays and pressures on higher education generally, the university believes our offers with guaranteed meaningful increases recognizes the valued contributions of our colleagues in light of these realities,” Hasman said.

The union employees remain hopeful that they will reach an agreement that favors their work.

“Without our work, the business would not run as it does. Even students have given input and say we’re needed and they appreciate us,” Harris said. “We feel more appreciated by our students than we do by our higher ups.”

Employees at Saint Louis University claim the university continues to offer an “unacceptable wage package,” one that they have overwhelmingly turned down three times as SLU’s negotiation team offers little change.

The employees consist of Service Employees International Union local 1 janitors, ground and maintenance crew workers on campus. They claim as a collective that they are being underappreciated by the university despite ensuring a clean and safe campus environment.

About 25 union workers gathered in front of the Busch Student Center on Thursday, April 25, in protest of SLU’s wage package and subsections within the contract.

According to a website made by the workers, “SLU is demanding a four-year agreement with insufficient wage increases and unfavorable outsourcing language that threatens these working peoples’ jobs and livelihoods.”

As of now, SLU’s custodial staff is making around $15 an hour and groundskeeping staff makes around $19 an hour. Both are considered essential workers by SLU, which means that on days where class is canceled due to weather, emergencies or other cancellations, these workers still have to show up.

Sonya Harris, a custodial employee as well as a shop stewardess, has worked at SLU for 17 years. Now, most of her work is in Ritter Hall where she cleans every classroom entirely.

Harris helped organize the protest, in an effort to convey her frustrations with the contract negotiations and understaffing issues.

“We are very short staffed,” Harris said. “We are about seven people short to their standards, but in my opinion, we need at least 10 or 12 more people.”

Harris echoed the sentiments of many others at the protest that their work is often overwhelming, and they may not be able to always complete all of their tasks by the end of their shifts.

“That’s why we need more staff because we don’t have enough to be in the dorms and the buildings. The buildings will get neglected if you don’t have enough staff,” Harris said.

Harris explained that what her and the other staff want is a living wage. She said that most of the staff, including herself, have second jobs.

Harris does administrative data entry for medical facilities from home to supplement her income. Her hope is to become an administrator at either a hospital or a nursing facility.

Another employee who works in custodial services for the past five years, Mitchell Hughes, mainly works with setting up different events that SLU hosts, also has a second job. He has had his own security business since he was 16, lasting 40 years.

“We’re getting paid the equivalent of a Burger King worker,” Hughes said. “I would like to be appreciated, but for me, appreciation is the bottom line.”

Hughes explained that his current wage is not enough to support his family which consists of his wife, nine children and nine grandchildren.

“My daughter is 17, and she makes more money than I make. She makes $17 an hour. She works at St. Louis Bread Company,” Hughes said.

Hughes resonated with Harris’s statements in understaffing.

“The reason we don’t have help is because they don’t want to pay [for the help],” Hughes said.

Groundskeeper Tommy Wessel, has worked for SLU for 17 years. His work requires him to be outside all day, and sometimes night.

“Everything you see outdoors is affected by us,” Wessel said. “Whether it be the concrete, trees, flowerbeds, the grass or the trash. Everywhere from campus, to the parking lots, including lots off of campus.”

Wessel said with graduation coming up and understaffing concerns, they just can not keep up. As of now, there are about 12 to 14 groundskeepers maintaining the entire campus. According to Wessel, there should be about 18 to 20, but he thinks there should be even more.

“We’ve asked if they are going to hire anybody, and they say they can’t hire anybody when there is a contract dispute,” Wessel said, concerned of ongoing end-of-year pressures.

“We’re not asking for something outrageous,” Hughes said. “When you come on to this university’s campus, you look at the grounds. You don’t see trash floating around this place. When you go inside, the trash cans are empty, the floors are clean. All of these things are important.”

“We voted [contracts] down three times now. The last time we voted it down, we went back the next day, and they said ‘No, that was our offer. Go vote on that again.’”

Harris said that custodial services are looking to get at least $17 an hour. Instead, she said that SLU has offered them a $1.75 incremental pay increase over a three year contract. Comparatively, the groundskeepers are asking for a minimum increase of $3.

“SLU has a lot of money. It will not hurt them to pay us that,” Harris said. “We feel very disrespected with the offer they came back with, and they’re not willing to change it.”

Harris also noted that SLU offered a signing bonus in the contract.

“They’re offering a signing bonus, which is not really a bonus because they’ve given that as a gift to other employees [before],” Haris said. “I really feel that should not even be a part of the negotiation and should just be a part of appreciation for us.”

Harris added that many workers are afraid of losing their jobs because their contract has a clause that permits the university to sub-contract out other employees while giving current employees only a 30 day notice of their replacement.

According to Wessel, they are already outsourcing custodial positions in the south campus, as there are no SLU specific custodians working there. Recently, he said he noticed outsourced contractors laying mulch on the north campus at the art museum.

“There were contractors in there taking care of that they’ve contracted out,” Wessel said. “When I asked why we weren’t going to do that. We were told ‘well, you know, you just can’t get to everything.’ Hire guys. We will get to it.”

Wessel expressed worries of sub-contracting out external workers outside of their job security, but also in the level of care those contractors will produce. This worry stems from the fact that most of SLU’s groundskeepers have worked for SLU on average 15 years, according to Wessel.

“I think that shows a level of care and commitment that you don’t get with some company that comes in and gets the job done, and they work quickly.”

Wessel said that he and other groundskeepers even keep an eye out for those who are peering into cars looking for something to steal. He said they always report it because of their genuine care for the students.

“There’s so many people that stop us as we walk across campus and recognize this. There’s a level of familiarity with students, professors and with office employees,” Wessel said. “I think that makes people comfortable seeing the same people each day in and day out, as opposed to just some random people that come and want to get their work finished and get up out of here.”

Wessel said that last year, SLU gave their maintenance workers a $5 raise because they were leaving to work at other schools, mainly Washington University.

“There are people who are scared of speaking up,” Wessel said. “They say, ‘well, if we make too much of a stink, they’re just going to get rid of us.’”

Similarly, others such as Hughes, said they simply want “a fair contract and a fair length of time.”

“​​Students have said ‘hey, all things being equal between here [and other schools], we chose this [SLU] because of the way the grounds look,’” Wessel said. “You just want to go to work, do your job and not have to deal with the B.S. outside of it. Everyone just wants to be happy in their job.”

Mia King, the bargaining agent for grounds, custodial and distribution workers, said the most important thing she is tackling is job security.

“They can give us a $5 an hour raise today, and then subcontract all our work out in 30 days. So that’s not helpful for us,” King said.

According to John (J.P.) Hasman, the lead negotiator for the president’s office, the existing subcontracting language has existed in the contract without issue since the 1970s, he explained via email.

“We just want some protections for these workers,” King said. “Some of them have worked here for 20 years plus. They deserve to know that their jobs are safe. That’s the biggest part, and SLU has basically ignored that.”

King also said that they have attempted to meet with president Pestello four times now, as he is the deciding factor alongside the board of trustees in the contract.

“All four times, he’s not there,” King said. “We have not had one conversation with him.”

King added that they even went as far to ask Alderwoman Megan Green to write a letter on their behalf; still, no response.

“The only thing I want to know is why President Pestello won’t meet with us,” King said. “His interests are not in these workers.”

In an email to The University News from President Pestello, he said he is committed to ensuring that the union workers and all SLU employees continue to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect.

“As negotiations with the union continue, I want to reaffirm my deep appreciation for the essential work that our custodial, grounds and distribution staff do every day,” Pestello said.

Pestello added that he remains optimistic about reaching an agreement that recognizes their valued contributions to the University.

“Amid the many challenges and uncertainties facing all universities, we are proud to have offered our dedicated facilities workers a contract with historic pay increases and unmatched benefits,” Pestello said.

SLU offered the union three contract options: a three-year contract, a four-year contract and a five-year contract.

The three-year contract consists of a $2.25 raise over the three years with a $150 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $21.25 and custodians’ to $17.25.

The four-year contract consists of a $3 raise over the four years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22 and custodians to $18.

The five-year contract consists of a $3.25 raise over the five years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22.25 and custodians to $18.25.

“These offers also include increasing their sick days, increasing their emergency call in pay to double time, continuing to fully subsidize employee health insurance, and our retirement match and tuition program providing almost free tuition to these employees and their children,” Hasman said. “These benefits are unmatched in our area.”

During the protest, the union workers emphasized that they wanted their raises now and to not be trapped into a long contract for adequate compensation.

“Given the recent communication from the President’s Office about our current year budget deficit and continued uncertainties related to delays in enrollment brought about by the FAFSA delays and pressures on higher education generally, the university believes our offers with guaranteed meaningful increases recognizes the valued contributions of our colleagues in light of these realities,” Hasman said.

The union employees remain hopeful that they will reach an agreement that favors their work.

“Without our work, the business would not run as it does. Even students have given input and say we’re needed and they appreciate us,” Harris said. “We feel more appreciated by our students than we do by our higher ups.”

Employees at Saint Louis University claim the university continues to offer an “unacceptable wage package,” one that they have overwhelmingly turned down three times as SLU’s negotiation team offers little change.

The employees consist of Service Employees International Union local 1 janitors, ground and maintenance crew workers on campus. They claim as a collective that they are being underappreciated by the university despite ensuring a clean and safe campus environment.

About 25 union workers gathered in front of the Busch Student Center on Thursday, April 25, in protest of SLU’s wage package and subsections within the contract.

According to a website made by the workers, “SLU is demanding a four-year agreement with insufficient wage increases and unfavorable outsourcing language that threatens these working peoples’ jobs and livelihoods.”

As of now, SLU’s custodial staff is making around $15 an hour and groundskeeping staff makes around $19 an hour. Both are considered essential workers by SLU, which means that on days where class is canceled due to weather, emergencies or other cancellations, these workers still have to show up.

Sonya Harris, a custodial employee as well as a shop stewardess, has worked at SLU for 17 years. Now, most of her work is in Ritter Hall where she cleans every classroom entirely.

Harris helped organize the protest, in an effort to convey her frustrations with the contract negotiations and understaffing issues.

“We are very short staffed,” Harris said. “We are about seven people short to their standards, but in my opinion, we need at least 10 or 12 more people.”

Harris echoed the sentiments of many others at the protest that their work is often overwhelming, and they may not be able to always complete all of their tasks by the end of their shifts.

“That’s why we need more staff because we don’t have enough to be in the dorms and the buildings. The buildings will get neglected if you don’t have enough staff,” Harris said.

Harris explained that what her and the other staff want is a living wage. She said that most of the staff, including herself, have second jobs.

Harris does administrative data entry for medical facilities from home to supplement her income. Her hope is to become an administrator at either a hospital or a nursing facility.

Another employee who works in custodial services for the past five years, Mitchell Hughes, mainly works with setting up different events that SLU hosts, also has a second job. He has had his own security business since he was 16, lasting 40 years.

“We’re getting paid the equivalent of a Burger King worker,” Hughes said. “I would like to be appreciated, but for me, appreciation is the bottom line.”

Hughes explained that his current wage is not enough to support his family which consists of his wife, nine children and nine grandchildren.

“My daughter is 17, and she makes more money than I make. She makes $17 an hour. She works at St. Louis Bread Company,” Hughes said.

Hughes resonated with Harris’s statements in understaffing.

“The reason we don’t have help is because they don’t want to pay [for the help],” Hughes said.

Groundskeeper Tommy Wessel, has worked for SLU for 17 years. His work requires him to be outside all day, and sometimes night.

“Everything you see outdoors is affected by us,” Wessel said. “Whether it be the concrete, trees, flowerbeds, the grass or the trash. Everywhere from campus, to the parking lots, including lots off of campus.”

Wessel said with graduation coming up and understaffing concerns, they just can not keep up. As of now, there are about 12 to 14 groundskeepers maintaining the entire campus. According to Wessel, there should be about 18 to 20, but he thinks there should be even more.

“We’ve asked if they are going to hire anybody, and they say they can’t hire anybody when there is a contract dispute,” Wessel said, concerned of ongoing end-of-year pressures.

“We’re not asking for something outrageous,” Hughes said. “When you come on to this university’s campus, you look at the grounds. You don’t see trash floating around this place. When you go inside, the trash cans are empty, the floors are clean. All of these things are important.”

“We voted [contracts] down three times now. The last time we voted it down, we went back the next day, and they said ‘No, that was our offer. Go vote on that again.’”

Harris said that custodial services are looking to get at least $17 an hour. Instead, she said that SLU has offered them a $1.75 incremental pay increase over a three year contract. Comparatively, the groundskeepers are asking for a minimum increase of $3.

“SLU has a lot of money. It will not hurt them to pay us that,” Harris said. “We feel very disrespected with the offer they came back with, and they’re not willing to change it.”

Harris also noted that SLU offered a signing bonus in the contract.

“They’re offering a signing bonus, which is not really a bonus because they’ve given that as a gift to other employees [before],” Haris said. “I really feel that should not even be a part of the negotiation and should just be a part of appreciation for us.”

Harris added that many workers are afraid of losing their jobs because their contract has a clause that permits the university to sub-contract out other employees while giving current employees only a 30 day notice of their replacement.

According to Wessel, they are already outsourcing custodial positions in the south campus, as there are no SLU specific custodians working there. Recently, he said he noticed outsourced contractors laying mulch on the north campus at the art museum.

“There were contractors in there taking care of that they’ve contracted out,” Wessel said. “When I asked why we weren’t going to do that. We were told ‘well, you know, you just can’t get to everything.’ Hire guys. We will get to it.”

Wessel expressed worries of sub-contracting out external workers outside of their job security, but also in the level of care those contractors will produce. This worry stems from the fact that most of SLU’s groundskeepers have worked for SLU on average 15 years, according to Wessel.

“I think that shows a level of care and commitment that you don’t get with some company that comes in and gets the job done, and they work quickly.”

Wessel said that he and other groundskeepers even keep an eye out for those who are peering into cars looking for something to steal. He said they always report it because of their genuine care for the students.

“There’s so many people that stop us as we walk across campus and recognize this. There’s a level of familiarity with students, professors and with office employees,” Wessel said. “I think that makes people comfortable seeing the same people each day in and day out, as opposed to just some random people that come and want to get their work finished and get up out of here.”

Wessel said that last year, SLU gave their maintenance workers a $5 raise because they were leaving to work at other schools, mainly Washington University.

“There are people who are scared of speaking up,” Wessel said. “They say, ‘well, if we make too much of a stink, they’re just going to get rid of us.’”

Similarly, others such as Hughes, said they simply want “a fair contract and a fair length of time.”

“​​Students have said ‘hey, all things being equal between here [and other schools], we chose this [SLU] because of the way the grounds look,’” Wessel said. “You just want to go to work, do your job and not have to deal with the B.S. outside of it. Everyone just wants to be happy in their job.”

Mia King, the bargaining agent for grounds, custodial and distribution workers, said the most important thing she is tackling is job security.

“They can give us a $5 an hour raise today, and then subcontract all our work out in 30 days. So that’s not helpful for us,” King said.

According to John (J.P.) Hasman, the lead negotiator for the president’s office, the existing subcontracting language has existed in the contract without issue since the 1970s, he explained via email.

“We just want some protections for these workers,” King said. “Some of them have worked here for 20 years plus. They deserve to know that their jobs are safe. That’s the biggest part, and SLU has basically ignored that.”

King also said that they have attempted to meet with president Pestello four times now, as he is the deciding factor alongside the board of trustees in the contract.

“All four times, he’s not there,” King said. “We have not had one conversation with him.”

King added that they even went as far to ask Alderwoman Megan Green to write a letter on their behalf; still, no response.

“The only thing I want to know is why President Pestello won’t meet with us,” King said. “His interests are not in these workers.”

In an email to The University News from President Pestello, he said he is committed to ensuring that the union workers and all SLU employees continue to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect.

“As negotiations with the union continue, I want to reaffirm my deep appreciation for the essential work that our custodial, grounds and distribution staff do every day,” Pestello said.

Pestello added that he remains optimistic about reaching an agreement that recognizes their valued contributions to the University.

“Amid the many challenges and uncertainties facing all universities, we are proud to have offered our dedicated facilities workers a contract with historic pay increases and unmatched benefits,” Pestello said.

SLU offered the union three contract options: a three-year contract, a four-year contract and a five-year contract.

The three-year contract consists of a $2.25 raise over the three years with a $150 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $21.25 and custodians’ to $17.25.

The four-year contract consists of a $3 raise over the four years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22 and custodians to $18.

The five-year contract consists of a $3.25 raise over the five years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22.25 and custodians to $18.25.

“These offers also include increasing their sick days, increasing their emergency call in pay to double time, continuing to fully subsidize employee health insurance, and our retirement match and tuition program providing almost free tuition to these employees and their children,” Hasman said. “These benefits are unmatched in our area.”

During the protest, the union workers emphasized that they wanted their raises now and to not be trapped into a long contract for adequate compensation.

“Given the recent communication from the President’s Office about our current year budget deficit and continued uncertainties related to delays in enrollment brought about by the FAFSA delays and pressures on higher education generally, the university believes our offers with guaranteed meaningful increases recognizes the valued contributions of our colleagues in light of these realities,” Hasman said.

The union employees remain hopeful that they will reach an agreement that favors their work.

“Without our work, the business would not run as it does. Even students have given input and say we’re needed and they appreciate us,” Harris said. “We feel more appreciated by our students than we do by our higher ups.”

Employees at Saint Louis University claim the university continues to offer an “unacceptable wage package,” one that they have overwhelmingly turned down three times as SLU’s negotiation team offers little change.

The employees consist of Service Employees International Union local 1 janitors, ground and maintenance crew workers on campus. They claim as a collective that they are being underappreciated by the university despite ensuring a clean and safe campus environment.

About 25 union workers gathered in front of the Busch Student Center on Thursday, April 25, in protest of SLU’s wage package and subsections within the contract.

According to a website made by the workers, “SLU is demanding a four-year agreement with insufficient wage increases and unfavorable outsourcing language that threatens these working peoples’ jobs and livelihoods.”

As of now, SLU’s custodial staff is making around $15 an hour and groundskeeping staff makes around $19 an hour. Both are considered essential workers by SLU, which means that on days where class is canceled due to weather, emergencies or other cancellations, these workers still have to show up.

Sonya Harris, a custodial employee as well as a shop stewardess, has worked at SLU for 17 years. Now, most of her work is in Ritter Hall where she cleans every classroom entirely.

Harris helped organize the protest, in an effort to convey her frustrations with the contract negotiations and understaffing issues.

“We are very short staffed,” Harris said. “We are about seven people short to their standards, but in my opinion, we need at least 10 or 12 more people.”

Harris echoed the sentiments of many others at the protest that their work is often overwhelming, and they may not be able to always complete all of their tasks by the end of their shifts.

“That’s why we need more staff because we don’t have enough to be in the dorms and the buildings. The buildings will get neglected if you don’t have enough staff,” Harris said.

Harris explained that what her and the other staff want is a living wage. She said that most of the staff, including herself, have second jobs.

Harris does administrative data entry for medical facilities from home to supplement her income. Her hope is to become an administrator at either a hospital or a nursing facility.

Another employee who works in custodial services for the past five years, Mitchell Hughes, mainly works with setting up different events that SLU hosts, also has a second job. He has had his own security business since he was 16, lasting 40 years.

“We’re getting paid the equivalent of a Burger King worker,” Hughes said. “I would like to be appreciated, but for me, appreciation is the bottom line.”

Hughes explained that his current wage is not enough to support his family which consists of his wife, nine children and nine grandchildren.

“My daughter is 17, and she makes more money than I make. She makes $17 an hour. She works at St. Louis Bread Company,” Hughes said.

Hughes resonated with Harris’s statements in understaffing.

“The reason we don’t have help is because they don’t want to pay [for the help],” Hughes said.

Groundskeeper Tommy Wessel, has worked for SLU for 17 years. His work requires him to be outside all day, and sometimes night.

“Everything you see outdoors is affected by us,” Wessel said. “Whether it be the concrete, trees, flowerbeds, the grass or the trash. Everywhere from campus, to the parking lots, including lots off of campus.”

Wessel said with graduation coming up and understaffing concerns, they just can not keep up. As of now, there are about 12 to 14 groundskeepers maintaining the entire campus. According to Wessel, there should be about 18 to 20, but he thinks there should be even more.

“We’ve asked if they are going to hire anybody, and they say they can’t hire anybody when there is a contract dispute,” Wessel said, concerned of ongoing end-of-year pressures.

“We’re not asking for something outrageous,” Hughes said. “When you come on to this university’s campus, you look at the grounds. You don’t see trash floating around this place. When you go inside, the trash cans are empty, the floors are clean. All of these things are important.”

“We voted [contracts] down three times now. The last time we voted it down, we went back the next day, and they said ‘No, that was our offer. Go vote on that again.’”

Harris said that custodial services are looking to get at least $17 an hour. Instead, she said that SLU has offered them a $1.75 incremental pay increase over a three year contract. Comparatively, the groundskeepers are asking for a minimum increase of $3.

“SLU has a lot of money. It will not hurt them to pay us that,” Harris said. “We feel very disrespected with the offer they came back with, and they’re not willing to change it.”

Harris also noted that SLU offered a signing bonus in the contract.

“They’re offering a signing bonus, which is not really a bonus because they’ve given that as a gift to other employees [before],” Haris said. “I really feel that should not even be a part of the negotiation and should just be a part of appreciation for us.”

Harris added that many workers are afraid of losing their jobs because their contract has a clause that permits the university to sub-contract out other employees while giving current employees only a 30 day notice of their replacement.

According to Wessel, they are already outsourcing custodial positions in the south campus, as there are no SLU specific custodians working there. Recently, he said he noticed outsourced contractors laying mulch on the north campus at the art museum.

“There were contractors in there taking care of that they’ve contracted out,” Wessel said. “When I asked why we weren’t going to do that. We were told ‘well, you know, you just can’t get to everything.’ Hire guys. We will get to it.”

Wessel expressed worries of sub-contracting out external workers outside of their job security, but also in the level of care those contractors will produce. This worry stems from the fact that most of SLU’s groundskeepers have worked for SLU on average 15 years, according to Wessel.

“I think that shows a level of care and commitment that you don’t get with some company that comes in and gets the job done, and they work quickly.”

Wessel said that he and other groundskeepers even keep an eye out for those who are peering into cars looking for something to steal. He said they always report it because of their genuine care for the students.

“There’s so many people that stop us as we walk across campus and recognize this. There’s a level of familiarity with students, professors and with office employees,” Wessel said. “I think that makes people comfortable seeing the same people each day in and day out, as opposed to just some random people that come and want to get their work finished and get up out of here.”

Wessel said that last year, SLU gave their maintenance workers a $5 raise because they were leaving to work at other schools, mainly Washington University.

“There are people who are scared of speaking up,” Wessel said. “They say, ‘well, if we make too much of a stink, they’re just going to get rid of us.’”

Similarly, others such as Hughes, said they simply want “a fair contract and a fair length of time.”

“​​Students have said ‘hey, all things being equal between here [and other schools], we chose this [SLU] because of the way the grounds look,’” Wessel said. “You just want to go to work, do your job and not have to deal with the B.S. outside of it. Everyone just wants to be happy in their job.”

Mia King, the bargaining agent for grounds, custodial and distribution workers, said the most important thing she is tackling is job security.

“They can give us a $5 an hour raise today, and then subcontract all our work out in 30 days. So that’s not helpful for us,” King said.

According to John (J.P.) Hasman, the lead negotiator for the president’s office, the existing subcontracting language has existed in the contract without issue since the 1970s, he explained via email.

“We just want some protections for these workers,” King said. “Some of them have worked here for 20 years plus. They deserve to know that their jobs are safe. That’s the biggest part, and SLU has basically ignored that.”

King also said that they have attempted to meet with president Pestello four times now, as he is the deciding factor alongside the board of trustees in the contract.

“All four times, he’s not there,” King said. “We have not had one conversation with him.”

King added that they even went as far to ask Alderwoman Megan Green to write a letter on their behalf; still, no response.

“The only thing I want to know is why President Pestello won’t meet with us,” King said. “His interests are not in these workers.”

In an email to The University News from President Pestello, he said he is committed to ensuring that the union workers and all SLU employees continue to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect.

“As negotiations with the union continue, I want to reaffirm my deep appreciation for the essential work that our custodial, grounds and distribution staff do every day,” Pestello said.

Pestello added that he remains optimistic about reaching an agreement that recognizes their valued contributions to the University.

“Amid the many challenges and uncertainties facing all universities, we are proud to have offered our dedicated facilities workers a contract with historic pay increases and unmatched benefits,” Pestello said.

SLU offered the union three contract options: a three-year contract, a four-year contract and a five-year contract.

The three-year contract consists of a $2.25 raise over the three years with a $150 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $21.25 and custodians’ to $17.25.

The four-year contract consists of a $3 raise over the four years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22 and custodians to $18.

The five-year contract consists of a $3.25 raise over the five years with a $1,250 ratification bonus. The raise would bring grounds and delivery wages to $22.25 and custodians to $18.25.

“These offers also include increasing their sick days, increasing their emergency call in pay to double time, continuing to fully subsidize employee health insurance, and our retirement match and tuition program providing almost free tuition to these employees and their children,” Hasman said. “These benefits are unmatched in our area.”

During the protest, the union workers emphasized that they wanted their raises now and to not be trapped into a long contract for adequate compensation.

“Given the recent communication from the President’s Office about our current year budget deficit and continued uncertainties related to delays in enrollment brought about by the FAFSA delays and pressures on higher education generally, the university believes our offers with guaranteed meaningful increases recognizes the valued contributions of our colleagues in light of these realities,” Hasman said.

The union employees remain hopeful that they will reach an agreement that favors their work.

“Without our work, the business would not run as it does. Even students have given input and say we’re needed and they appreciate us,” Harris said. “We feel more appreciated by our students than we do by our higher ups.”

The Shaw Neighborhood, previously deemed unwelcoming to outsiders, has undergone a profound transformation, now emerging as an up-and-coming area due to gentrification.

The gentrification in the South City neighborhood began around 15 years ago. Homes in Shaw began to be remodeled causing significant price increases that forced many tenants, mainly African American, to move out and sell their homes. In recent years, a variety of new businesses have trickled into the neighborhood as well. 

Tenants report being forced out through a variety of tactics. Neighbors were being pushed out due to rent increases, supposed house burnings and others being offered large sums of money to move out.

When 42-year-old Torrence Mann moved to Shaw, about 12 years ago, it was what he considered a bad neighborhood. 

“This place was kinda rough around here,” said Mann. “A lot of dope selling, a lot of gang activity and stuff like that. A lot of shooting and killing, just around here.”

Deshawn Griffin, who has lived in the neighborhood for 15 years, describes a similar experience. 

“When we first moved here, it was a lot of hanging out and a lot of rough little parts, violent,” Griffin said. “I encountered my friend getting killed by the police, I saw people getting robbed over here and a bunch of shootings.”

As more businesses entered Shaw, homeowners were offered cash offers of up to $200,000 in profit for their homes, according to Griffin.

“This is a historic neighborhood now. So every historic [building] still standing they would like to own or make their own,” said Griffin. 

Griffin said that to this day, people are still fighting with property buyers to avoid being forced out. He knows one lady in the area who refuses to sell her house no matter how much money they offer her, so that she can keep it for her kids and grandkids.

For some like Mann, he underwent drastic price increases. This included taxes and cost of living rising rapidly.

Mann alleged that people were either “bought out or ran out.” He said that there were tenants whose houses were purposefully burned down, which forced them to move out of the neighborhood. According to Mann, this was so that the houses could be rebuilt and put on the market for a higher price. He said that these claims were made from multiple people within the neighborhood including people he knew, but they remain unsure of what caused the fires. 

Shaw is now filled with urban renewal, with updated homes and numerous businesses that have entered the neighborhood such as the cafe Fiddlehead Fern, Sasha’s Wine Bar, Bailey’s Range and Lamiaa Botanicals.

“At first there wasn’t that, there were stores and just abandoned spots [before],” said Griffin. “Then they turned them into restaurants, there were old [abandoned] schools that they’ve turned into actual homes now, lofts. When the schools opened their courts back up, you don’t see as much negativity around here.”

Conversely, there has been high price increases and vast demographic changes.

According to Shaw census data in the 2000’s, Shaw’s African American population was 4,657 and the white population was 3,136. Most recently, in 2020, the white population has increased by 46% to 4,580 and the African American population has decreased by 67% to 1,516.

Jack, a resident in Shaw, works with multiple organizations around the neighborhood. He and his family moved to Flora Place in Shaw during the 2000’s where the homes currently average out to be $645,445. One street over on Russell, the average house costs are nearly half those on Flora Place being $359,676.

He recalls that when he and his family had just moved to the neighborhood, that it was the start of the demographic and urban renewal changes.

“In the last decade or so, there’s been a lot of restaurants opening up,” Jack said. “It’s a lovely walking neighborhood. Each street has its own flavor.”

Jack recalled that there used to be more Black tenants in Shaw, but those homes have been redone as luxury apartments.

“For my adult life, that’s kind of been where I’ve seen firsthand the most change [in demographics],” Jack said.

While Shaw has undergone changes in order to avert crime, some local businesses are still fighting with it.

Emily Schranck, bartender and manager on duty at Sasha’s Wine Bar, has worked and lived in Shaw for about two years. At Sasha’s, she said they have had their fair share of crime.

“There was a shooting here in the store a couple years ago,” Schranck said. “This was before I started working here, but it was a personal issue somebody had with a customer. They came in, shot him right in the face and walked out.”

The incident occurred in 2019, and the 36-year-old man who was shot has since recovered.

Since this incident, Schranck said that in December an angry customer punched out their front window, a male was shot and killed in his yard in 2022 and there have been numerous hit and runs and carjackings in the area.

“There was a carjacking that happened not too long ago from the plant store right there [Lamaia Botanicals], somebody stole her car. She [the owner] said it was some teenage boys,” Schranck said.In 2022 there were a total of 44 person-related crimes in Shaw and 446 property crimes according to NIBRS crime comparison by neighborhood. In 2005 this number looked much higher, with 663 total crimes reported.

Owner of the Shaw Market, Berhe Beyene, who is from Eritrea, took over the market over 10 years ago. Beyene said that he noticed changes, and it has been a lot quieter around Shaw. Though he said the increase in new businesses has caused a decrease in business at his market.

Gallery • 2 Photos

“[Clientele] went down,” Beyene said. “I know people didn’t expect it, but it did.”

As far as crime goes, Beyene said that he probably experiences more break-ins now then before gentrification consumed Shaw. Despite this, he believes that customers will always appreciate local businesses more.

To encourage locals to come, Beyene serves Eritrean food every Wednesday starting at 5:30 p.m. from the deli section of the market. 

Shaw as it stands today has made many changes within the past 15 years and is still working to become a thriving neighborhood as new businesses are planned to enter the neighborhood in the next few years. 

For Mann, the changes in Shaw had a good impact on his life for him and his kids.

“It was a busy street,” Mann said. “I mean, every neighborhood is a bad neighborhood. It was a bad neighborhood sometimes, but they cleaned it up and for the last 10 years it has been clean around here. I would say around Shaw and living around Shaw it’s pretty good right now.”

Nadia Abusoud contributed to this reporting.

After Hispanic Heritage Month, which ran from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, many students have criticized Saint Louis University’s lack of recognition and effort. 

There were only two events celebrating the month, none of which the University or DICE directly organized. Latino students and faculty say the lack of school-sponsored celebratory events is disappointing.

Latinos make up 10% of the undergraduate student body. They stand as the second largest minority group at SLU according to the 2023 SLU profile, which is around 1,300 students.

According to Katherine Knuckles from the Office of Institutional Research, if you remove the students from the Madrid campus from the percentage, it drops down to 8.7% for undergraduates.

On Sept. 15, OASIS hosted the Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month Kick-Off event, with funding provided by the Cross Cultural Center, in the Center for Global Citizenship (CGC). The event had a variety of foods, a presentation discussing Hispanic and Latinx cultures and games. The event drew 54 attendees.

The School of Medicine was the only other group to recognize Hispanic Heritage Month. On Sept. 15, they hosted a brief event at the Learning Resource Center Auditorium with a few panelists and food sampling.

Puerto Rican student Markos Wester-Rivera, a senior majoring in Political Science, vocalized his disappointment in the lack of acknowledgment by emailing the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement (DICE).

The email included four other students who felt similarly. 

In the email, Wester-Rivera wrote that “as a Latino student”, he “hoped with a new VP of DICE there would be more of an effort to acknowledge the presence and achievement of the Latino community.”

He also said that he found it difficult to be a Latino on campus due to the lack of acknowledgment and efforts by staff.

“I will note that the folks over at the CCC have done an amazing job on their part, however, that has been more of a background role supporting groups like Oasis or hosting events like ATLAS week,” Wester-River wrote in the email.

To conclude his message, he pointed out how there wasn’t an email or event on SLU’s part regarding Hispanic Heritage Month as a whole.

He has since received no response from DICE.

Wester-Rivera said that the lack of recognition made him feel, “ignored, like SLU doesn’t care.”

“It’s frustrating when any sort of community or sense of belonging on campus has to be made by ourselves. Yet, that is DICE’s entire campaign and what they say they do,” Wester-Rivera said.

Wester-Rivera is the Senior Advisor for OASIS and said that as a student group, they can only do so much. He said he would like to see at least an email and a SLU organized event acknowledging Hispanic Heritage Month that isn’t faculty or student-led. 

“There was one event MLK scholars put on last year, it was a panel of Latine leaders on campus, but guess who put that on? Me,” Wester-Rivera said. “You want us to thrive, but don’t even acknowledge our existence.”

Senior Pedro Valadez, a Mexican-American, a Political Science major and Spanish minor, said he typically only sees discussions hosted by Spanish professors in the Spanish department. 

“I mean, it makes you feel invisible. There’s already not a lot of us on campus,” said Valadez. 

Valadez said he wishes SLU reached out to the Latino community more, checked in on them and made sure they are adjusting properly. He also said the Latino community would benefit more from more representation on campus, similar to how they put up signs for Black Jesuits for Black Catholic History Month.

According to Valadez, there was only one instance that he remembered in which signs of famous Latinos were put up, which was in McGannon Hall. 

“No one goes in that building. It’s an old decrepit building and it’s literally in a random hallway. No one’s gonna see that,” said Valadez. “Maybe try to put it more out there where people can read it.” 

Valadez suggested West Pine as a good place to put up signs since many sororities, fraternities, and other informative messages sponsored by groups go along West Pine to allow for maximum viewing. 

“I feel like they try so hard to get you here and then after your first year, they’re like ‘oh, we’re here for you’, and then just disappear,” said Valadez. “I got no help. This is why I feel some people drop out, because you feel like you have your whole support system freshman year and then next thing you know, it’s gone.” 

A 2023 graduation and retention report found that SLU’s dropout rate is at 30%, or 802 students who did not complete their degree.

Valadez said that he wants SLU to be a place for his younger siblings, but that he worries that if they came, they would have no support and nowhere to go where they feel accepted.

“I want my siblings to be able to go here and not feel like they have no place to go,” said Valadez.

According to the research provided by Knuckles, in 2023, only 3% of faculty members identified as Latino, or around 81 faculty members. SLU has lost four Latino faculty members since last year, but have held a steady 3% for the past four years. 

This number includes, but is not limited to, instructional faculty, adjunct faculty, clinical faculty and both full-time and part-time faculty.

As one of a handful of Latino faculty members at SLU, Dr. Onésimo (Ness) Sándoval, a Mexican-American and sociology professor, believes that Latino events should not only be led by student groups like Oasis.

“It shouldn’t just be Oasis, right, it’s not their responsibility,” Sándoval said. “They should be invited to the table to have a say in setting the agenda, but the university should be intentional saying this is an important month for our students, many of our students.”

Sándoval said he did not receive an email about any events happening or an invitation to speak at one. He said that he has done talks at other universities or organizations around the city and country during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Some of the talks he did were at local organizations and community groups, the University of Missouri and was scheduled for a talk at Columbia University which got postponed.

“It’s an educational moment for those who are coming from non-hispanic backgrounds to understand the contributions that this diverse body is making to the United States, the military and academic institutions throughout the country,” said Sándoval. “To be silent today is really bad in itself and is sending a message to the student body.”

Efforts toward the Latino community should be under DICE, Sándoval said.

“We’re definitely behind in where we need to be as a leading academic institution,” said Sándoval. “If the university feels that this is not important programming [Hispanic Heritage Month], they should stand by that.”

Another student, Julian Garcia, a Mexican-American freshman majoring in psychology, said that before talking about Hispanic Heritage Month, people must acknowledge the historical context behind the term Hispanic.

“You first have to recognize the word Hispanic itself, it doesn’t exist. Hispanic is a term coined by the Reagan administration to lump us in with the colonizing group and throws Spanish people in there and ignores Brazilians,” Garcia said.

Garcia said he wishes that the university and DICE would engage with students more. 

“I think that one of the biggest things too is actually having people asking students and engaging with students about what they want to see happen,” said Garcia. “You’re not engaging every single group and saying, ‘this is what we value as an institution’. We’re not bringing people together. They [the university/DICE] don’t do anything.”

Garcia and Wester-Rivera said they would like to see more group collaboration with other cultural groups.

“Many times we act like that if there is a focus on another group, then we are forgotten about, but we should all remember that we are fighting the same battles and only together can we truly overcome our individual issues,” Wester-Rivera said.

Garcia said he wants to see action in the sense of a statement and a speaker panel bringing in immigration attorneys and other people that talk about immigrant rights. He would also like to see a panel filled with Latino students and faculty to talk about their experiences with discrimination.

“We’re not actually seeing the university pushing social justice goals as it claims it has, especially during Hispanic Heritage Month,” Garcia said. “Immigration is the largest issue that is affecting the Latino community, and if you are not pushing for that, you are not living up to the standards of this institution.”

Luella Loseille, the assistant director in the CCC for global citizenship which is an extension of DICE, provided funding for the Hispanic Heritage Month kick-off event. She also works closely with cultural groups on campus including OASIS.

As far as Hispanic Heritage Month goes, Loseille said they typically lean on collaboration with student organizations, but have not in recent years put on anything themselves. 

“Typically, I like to always just know, ‘hey, if there’s something that you don’t want to do, kind of just let me know and then we can help provide the funding for that, which we’ve had for the past couple of years,” Loseille said.

Loseille said she sees herself as the person she needed to navigate through school during her time. 

After students’ complaints were brought to Loseille’s attention, she put together a listening session for students who identify as Latinx/Hispanic for next Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 5 p.m. in the CGC Auditorium. This is an opportunity for students to share their feedback and experiences at SLU with the CCC staff, she said. More information can be found on their Instagram page @slu_ccc.

Vice president of DICE, Rochelle Smith, who has been at SLU for a year said her main focus is to create spaces of belonging, inclusion and diversity for those who have been historically underrepresented.

Some of what her work details is the belonging initiative that she worked on with her assistant vice president, Allison Brewer. According to the SLU website, the belonging initiative is a voluntary program that will connect students to faculty and staff with similar interests to share a meal and fellowship a few times per semester.

“We look at every school, every key unit, every aspect of the institution and ask ourselves, does this create a sense of belonging for those who, historically, maybe culturally, have not seen themselves or individuals in their families here,” said Smith.

For Hispanic Heritage Month this year, Smith brought up that there were events that happened on South campus, but has a priority on celebrating year-long.

“I look forward to meeting with them [OASIS] to see how they want to celebrate all year and embed culturally into the institution all year. Not just within the month,” Smith said. “We did something in 2022 from DICE and then South campus did something this year, but DICE didn’t do anything standalone this year.”

Smith said that her plan to meet with OASIS is relatively in a year or so. As far as responding to student emails such as Wester-Rivera’s, she said that her team did not see it but would like to meet with these students regardless

“We can do things every day all day, but if students don’t feel a sense of belonging, a sense of inclusion, a sense of support, then we haven’t done anything,” said Smith.

Conversely, Valadez and Wester-Rivera criticized DICE for hosting no standalone events or sending out any messages other than one Instagram post. They also criticized how for Black Catholic History month, a seemingly niche subject, had nine celebratory events and signs along West Pine. 

“For a school that says they want to build community and belonging among students, why is it that there is not a single event lifting up our Latine students, but nine events about Black Catholics,” Wester-Rivera said. “On top of that, despite being in a predominantly Black city, why is our Black student population one of the smallest on campus?”

Wester-Rivera went on to say that this is a slap in the face for both Latine and Black students who identify as Latine.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the history, culture and contributions of “American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America,”.

This yearly recognition began in 1968 under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. This expansion spread the recognition period to 30 days.

Comparatively, universities such as Washington University, Boston College, Notre Dame and Loyola have done a series of events for the month, or ones that are more immersive, than SLU has.

To celebrate Dia de los Muertos with the Saint Louis University community, the club Oasis hosted a celebration with an ofrenda, food and mariachi.

Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives. The celebration includes food, drinks and music.

The event on Nov. 1 started with a moment of silence to honor those who have died in Palestine. Student leaders, Vice President Nathalie Villalobos and sophomore Michael Alvarado, then discussed the history of the Day of the Dead and their first activity: musical chairs.

Each table at the Wool Ballroom had sugar skull coloring sheets for students and faculty to color and small paper sombrero hats for attendees to wear.

The club made their own ofrenda for attendees to partake in. An ofrenda is an altar built to honor lost loved ones. People were encouraged to bring pictures of deceased loved ones or use the printer provided at the event.

The ofrenda arch was handmade from cardboard boxes and paper marigolds. The club members themselves handcrafted each marigold during and after they hosted an arts and crafts night on Oct. 18. 

According to Oasis’s Instagram, “the scent and color of these flowers [marigolds] are said to lead the spirits of our loved ones back to us.”

Ana Santiago, a freshman Mexican-American student, helped build the arch and flowers.

“Making the little flowers was kind of fun,” Santiago said. “It turned out really well. Just knowing the actual meaning behind the arch, the marigolds and Mexican culture is really nice.”

The event also welcomed Mariachi Mendez to play songs such as La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, Cien Años by Vicente, Amor Eterno by Juan Gabriel and Piel Canela by Eydie and Los Panchos.

Villalobos, a junior Mexican-American student, played a role in organizing the event by overlooking every detail. She said this was stressful, but worth it. 

“It’s the biggest event of the year. We normally get over 200 people,” Villalobos said. “It’s really great because we can show people the culture, and I feel like this year was way better because we did get our funding up.”

The event cost about $2,000 to put together, which the club received from their yearly Student Government Association (SGA) funding.

Rodrigo Vasquez, a junior Brazilian-Dominican student and president of Oasis, said that since he is not Mexican, he took a more hands off approach when planning this event so that it could be as authentic as possible.

“A lot of people really want to go to the event because it’s a big event,” Vasquez said. “I feel like it’s the most culturally immersive one.”

Villalobos said her favorite part was the Mariachi because it added a live music aspect, something she does not get to experience often.

“It’s not something you see often, especially in an area like St. Louis where there aren’t that many Latinos. So it’s honestly nice to listen to this music live because it’s really different from hearing it in your headphones,” Villalobos said.

Vasquez said he enjoyed the reactions of his friends to the mariachi. He said there was one Spanish song his friend wanted to see live, and they played it at their table.

“When I’m telling you this man looked so happy, he looked like a child that was just given candy,” Vasquez said. “Our entire table decided to start singing the song as they were singing it towards him. It was the best part of anything.”

They had many options for attendees to eat. Including asada and veggie tacos, red rice, beans and cheese, soda, chips, varying types of salsa, onion, cilantro and conchas for dessert. They catered their food from Taqueria Durango in Overland.

“The food was some of the best I’ve ever eaten at Oasis,” said Erald Murati, a junior student studying classical humanities and biology.

Murati encouraged students of non-Latino descent to attend these events as he did, to make a more tolerant community. 

“I think the best way to create a tolerant community, tolerant student body and tolerant future, is to expose people to different cultures like these and say, ‘hey, we may have different traditions, but the fact that you want to respect your loved ones that you’ve lost, and that I can connect with that on a certain level is important’, and I think it’s so valuable,” Murati said.

Murati’s favorite part of the event was printing a picture of his late grandmother and setting it up at the ofrenda. 

“It was one of the more meaningful events I’ve been to that Oasis has held. One of the more special things about it for me was the opportunity to print a picture of a loved one on the spot,” said Murati. “I really liked the idea of respecting the dead yearly, because sometimes I feel like I don’t pay that respect that often.” 

For Santiago, seeing people passing by and joining the event was her favorite part. 

“A lot of people really enjoyed [the event], even though they didn’t really know what the event was and joined after walking by,” Santiago said.

Oasis is a club that celebrates all Caribbean, Latin American and Hispanic cultures, hosting a variety of events celebrating different cultures. Their next event will be Taste of Caribbean where they hope to have live music and a variety of food.

Murati said he appreciates how Oasis exposes him to a range of cultures. 

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions,” said Murati. “These events are put on, I think, to make us want to wander and learn about other things different from our own. So stay curious and ask some freaking questions, dude.” 

Twenty-one graduate students from India – approximately 15 meant to attend Saint Louis University – were denied entry after being stopped by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for visa-related issues despite completing all of the regular visa formalities. The students are now barred from traveling outside the country for five years, their visas are canceled, they have lost nearly $10,000 and experienced what they say is insurmountable trauma. 

Two students admitted to SLU, Manisha Ramakrishna and Balaji Srinivas, a couple from Bangalore, India, claimed they traveled together for 28 hours before being held at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport along with the 19 other students, all bound for schools in Missouri and South Dakota. 

After a long interrogation process, the couple was sent back to India with a myriad of loose ends. Without documents to appeal their barrement and visa cancellations, they are left with few options.

The couple, now jobless, say that they put their house up for a mortgage and sold their motorbike in order to attend SLU. Among other complications and poor conditions, they were threatened by their interviewers, went without food and water for 26 hours and had their luggage delayed by five or six days upon their return to India.

According to Rebecca Bahan, director of SLU’s Office of International Services, only eight students have reached out to them so far about the situation at hand, but they are unsure of how many were bound for SLU. Unless the students reach out to them directly, they said that they cannot know how many students were SLU bound.

During the couple’s separate interviews, they reported that the immigration officers accused the students of coming to the U.S. illegally under the guise of being students, despite their abundance of documents and proof.

The Arrival

When they first landed in Atlanta, the couple’s first stop was the immigration security check, where their passports were reviewed and they were asked standard arrival questions. Afterward, they were abruptly escorted to the immigration office by police, where they waited for their names to be called.

After about half an hour, Ramakrishna was called to the office.

“The first thing they asked me was, what is the purpose of this [travel]?” said Ramakrishna. 

She explained that she was going to pursue her master’s in mechanical engineering at SLU. She was then asked if she had paid her tuition fees. When she answered with an honest no, the interrogation continued. 

“I said no, I have not paid tuition fees,” said Ramakrishna. “The university itself told us in the pre-departure/arrival to come here and pay the fees.”

Tuition fees are often paid a few weeks after the start of the school term, which is why the couple found this line of questioning odd. Srinivas said he had even emailed SLU the day before their flight wanting to pay the fees early, but was told to wait.

According to Bahan, “1,200 students who have made it in, or 1,000 plus, and none of them paid their tuition [student fees] before coming here.”

Ramakrishna even showed the officers her loan disbursement of around $16,000.

The officer did not believe her. He questioned whether she was truly going to St. Louis as a student or to illegally work. They examined her I-20 form, which proves legal enrollment in a program of study in the U.S., and they continued to ask her more questions about why she chose SLU.

As she continued to answer his questions, officers accused her of lying. Finally, she was asked to return to the waiting room.

“After the entire conversation they had told us ‘you people come here to just work, not study’,” said Ramakrishna. “Even though we had the entire proof… like our admit letter, our I-20’s, we had even bought a house to scale up for accommodation and showed the lease agreement stating that we will be staying here and paying money for it.”

Still, the officer continued to insist she and the other students were coming to illegally work.

Shortly after, Srinivas was called into the office and asked the same questions.

Srinivas also talked about the scholarship he had received of $5,500 and an on-campus job paying $1,000. He shared his dreams of becoming a pilot and how SLU has a good aviation program. 

“He’s like, ‘So you’re telling me that St. Louis is the only university in the entire universe which offers this service?’” said Srinivas. He continued to explain that no, he had applied to other schools as well, but this was his top choice. 

This was when the officer asked for his phone.

“I was just shocked at this moment. Like a phone, why would he ask for my phone?” said Srinivas. 

He was asked to unlock the phone and login to his WhatsApp, Instagram and other communication apps. The officer told him that he must only communicate the truth, and any lies would be used against him.

Srinivas was handed a slip of paper stating officers were permitted to check his phone, laptop and any documents they have – and that they have to comply.

Afterward, he was asked to wait in a different room as they searched his phone.

He said that inside this room he could see out into the original waiting room but they could not see into his room. The same things were happening to other students who were there too – they were called in, sent out and had their phones taken away as well, Srinivas said.

After waiting for about half an hour to an hour, he was called back in.

“While sitting there,” said Srinivas, “He was staring at me. Like whenever I would look at him randomly he was always staring at me. You know? Like these big intimidating stares.”

Srinivas said he felt hope for a moment, despite the intimidation, as he had noticed other students getting their passports handed back to them with a white piece of paper. 

“He puts a sheet of paper in front of me, which states that they feel I am not a legitimate student trying to enter the U.S. and that they feel the documents I have are not legal proof,” he said. 

The Formal Interrogation

He then faced an interrogation interview.

“When I saw that, I was fully and completely shocked, like I’m literally not able to feel anything in my body. I’m like what? Is this even real?” said Srinivas after seeing that he may be barred for five years.

When he asked what was happening, the officer told him that he was the one asking questions, not Srinivas. 

Srinivas was asked to raise his right hand and repeat, “Whatever I speak shall be the truth, and only be the truth. I shall not lie with any sort of forms.”

In addition to questions about his personal life, the officer then began to ask about a consultancy group chat they have on their WhatsApp called Educates IDP. IDP is an education consultancy group in India that guides students with their studies abroad, including admission and visa process. 

The officer began to ask about the group chat, specifically about a document shared in the chat of possible questions that could be asked during a visa interview. Srinivas explained to The University News that he wanted to be well-prepared.

“And then he’s like, ‘Do you know it’s against immigration law to be coached for any interviews?’” said Srinivas. Except, the questions provided by IDP were available on many other platforms such as Google, Quora, YouTube or articles published by students sharing their experiences. Bahan confirmed they provide similar questions for their international students as well before they come.

They began to question him again as to why he hadn’t paid the university fees. 

He told the officer that he paid a $200 installment deposit, but the officer stated that he could not accept this. 

Then the officer asked him to leave the room, but when Srinivas pleaded to talk with them more, they began to threaten him with force or a citation. 

The couple believes that the officers did not find their interview and documents satisfactory enough.

Ramakrishna pulled out a large file of documents during a virtual interview. “We have this entire file,” she said. “All of these are documents which we had carried to the U.S., though he didn’t even care to check one of these documents and he stated that we are not just students.”

After he returned to the waiting room, they waited for about four or five hours more before Ramakrishna was called back into the office. 

Ramakrishna stated her experience was similar. She had to raise her right hand and pledge to not lie. Her questions were the same as Srinivas, but something different happened – they ruined her bachelor’s degree certificate.

She said that the officer was curious to see what the certificate looked like in her country.. Once he gave it back to her, upon request, it was folded in half. This can ruin the credibility of the document.

Later in the interview, the officer asked for her I-20, again. 

“I told him I already gave him my I-20,” said Ramakrishna. “He said, ‘I lost it, give me another one’, so that’s how careless they were.”

Luckily, she came prepared and had another photo copy in her file, but the officer lost the signed original she had.

She said the officer also questioned why she had a LinkedIn account.

“I was literally surprised, why was he linking my LinkedIn account to my immigration?” said Ramakrishna. 

Before sending her back to the waiting room, Ramakrishna asked if he planned on sending them back to India – he replied yes.   

She asked the officer to inform her parents, since he had confiscated her phone. Ramakrishna said it had been a long time since she had contacted her parents, and felt that her parents should know what was happening. She even asked for a single phone call with them, to which the officer replied, ‘no’. 

She said the officer told her he would message her mom for her on WhatsApp, but she later found that he never did.

She went back to sit with Srinivas, and they waited for about three hours before being called again. This time, with even worse news – their visas had been canceled and they were barred from the country for five years.

“We were literally so shocked. We started sobbing so badly,” said Ramakrishna. “It was, I guess, a nightmare for us.”

After they heard the news, they went back to the waiting room. Later, Ramakrishna was called back alone. 

Her body and belongings were searched before being moved to a small cubicle cell where she would be held with one other roommate, still without a phone. 

In the cell, there was an open toilet with no handle to flush. If she wanted to flush, she would have to ask a guard from the outside to do so for her. Above the toilet was a camera as well, she said.

“We had to sleep on the floor with a very small thin mattress, like a baby-sized mattress, and they had given a very thin aluminum foil type like paper-thin, to cover us in the cold,” said Ramakrishna.

With minimal resources, she explained they had no access to food or water until much later.

“You are not provided with any food or water, or any kind of basic human needs,” said Ramakrishna.

Later on, Srinivas was the last to be called back to the office. He noted that the time at this point was about 3:30 a.m.

The officers took his biometrics and DNA with a swab of his cheek.

When the officers explained the situation to Srinivas, he pleaded with them to make a change. 

“Then I requested to him to please reduce it, like I begged them, because it was the last hope I had to change their mindset.”

The officers told him to save his energy and not waste their time. He was then asked to sign off on three statements.

The statements: one declaring he spoke the truth, the second to admit he broke the immigration law and the last was an agreement to a five-year ban.

According to Srinivas, the officer then said, “I should give you a lifetime ban for being coached for an interview. Be happy that I’m not giving you a lifetime ban.”

He was then given five seconds to sign, and if he didn’t, the officer would give him a lifetime ban.

“He forced me to sign it basically,” said Srinivas. “We didn’t want to sign. We only wanted to sign for the first one.”

Once he had signed, the officer led him down a narrow hallway where he could see all the cells. That is when he saw Manisha’s bag, and realized she wasn’t sent on a flight back to India right away.

He was taken to a room where eight men were. Before he was allowed into the room, the officer frisked his body and removed some laces, jewelry and anything potentially sharp. 

The men in the room were all eating food when he entered the room. He asked the officer for food, and this was the first time he had eaten or drank anything in about 26 hours.

In the room, there were only five beds, a table, chair and a sofa.

“So I had no other option but to sleep on the cold floor and I had to cover myself with like a manufactured or thin aluminum foil. It is as thin as a gift wrapping paper that when I rotated it with my hand or just if I poke it there will be a hole in it.”

For Ramakrishna, after she had been in her cell for many hours, she reached out to one of the officers outside the cell. She asked the officer if she could speak to their senior officer. Around 1 a.m. during their shift change, the senior officer followed up and came to her cell.

“I literally went on my knees, like I kneeled down in front of him, saying ‘could you please rethink this case’,” said Ramakrishna. “Because it is literally our dream.

The officer told her to get an immigration lawyer to challenge the barment in court. He also said that he would re-check their papers the following day before he signed them, but the following day they heard no updates on their case.

The Return 

After a few more hours, the couple boarded their flight home together and waited in a room near some of the officers they encountered the night before.

They overhead the officers speaking loudly. 

“They told [them] that the superior officer had sent them to a meeting telling them they did a great job last night, and you deserve a pat on the back,” said Srinivas.

They also mentioned something about reaching a head count for the operation.

“So basically we feel that they wanted to reach a number or target of people they were sending back to their country,” said Srinivas. 

Later, the couple boarded their planes back. This was when their phones were finally returned to them. At each airport they were the last to board and were escorted by police the entire way.

“It was super duper embarrassing,” said Srinivas. “People are giving us mean stares like, okay, have you done something wrong?”

When they reached the airport in Bangalore, India, they were escorted by some personnel to the immigration center. This is when the personnel explained that the students were “deported.”

“I am like, what? How can they say we are deported? We were in a no-man’s land, we never entered the U.S. in the first place,” said Srinivas.

To be deported, one must have already entered the country. In the case of these students, they never actually entered, so they were denied entry, but according to their papers and the officers, they were deported.

The superior immigration officer in India went to look at their case. Whenever the couple was sent back, they were handed an envelope with only their passport in it. The students were not aware that there was supposed to be another document in there. 

According to Srinivas, the officer said, “In my 35 years of experience, I’ve never seen this kind of thing where the U.S. doesn’t give any documents supporting why they were sent back.”

They were supposed to receive a packet of around 10 to 15 pages containing the introduction interview and the reasons for why they were sent back. Since the documents were not there, the personnel had to start calling other centers inquiring as to why the documents were missing.

The students received a stamp on their passports as deportees sent back to India. This also puts a black mark on them in the system that will follow them for the rest of their lives.

“It might affect our careers, or any future prospects we have. So that was, again, even more devastating to hear and sad,” said Srinivas.

Without the documentation stating why they were “deported”, they can’t do anything to change these unfortunate circumstances. 

Looking Ahead

The couple sent out emails to embassies in the U.S. as well as the Indian embassy in Atlanta, but they have yet to receive a response. They also reached out to consulates in India about their visa, and have received no response. 

The couple is unsure as to the official reason for their denial of entry, but they believe it had to do with their IDP chat, not paying their student fees and that the officers didn’t believe they are real students.

They said that they have reached out to Saint Louis University, but have heard little back and as of now, have not had any additional updates from SLU.

“I have shed so many tears and I’ve literally broken down to the maximum extent I’ve ever felt or done,” said Srinivas. 

According to Bahan and Luchen Li, the associate vice president for global engagement, the fact that Customs and Border Patrol did not contact SLU was unusual.

“If the student is stopped at the border, the government calls us and they want to know like, ‘hey, we have a student here, we want to make sure that they are bonafide and we want to check their documents,’ but in these cases, no one from Customs and Border Patrol has ever contacted us,” said Bahan.

Li and Bahan said they are on the receiving end of this. Since no one from Customs and Border Patrol contacted them, there is little they can do to figure out what happened.

They said that because this is a government decision, there is little that SLU can do other than reach out to advocation channels. They bring up the issue to a particular channel called Issue Net.

“It’s kind of our body of support in the United States who works with international education. Just to let other schools know, have you been experiencing this? What have you been doing? Is this a trend that we’re seeing?” said Bahan.

“We also have a policy at the university for those students whose visa coming to the U.S. are denied, then we refund them their deposit,” said Li.

Other than that, the best SLU can do is recommend that they apply for a new visa and try again.

“This has been our first time to encounter that a student has not been allowed into the country, like I said before, if there’s a question, they call us,” said Bahan.

The University urges those who were a part of this group to email them at internationalservices@slu.edu for additional help.

“…We don’t understand [and] the students don’t understand why they were barred entry,” said Bahan. “So pushing that after an advocacy group would be helpful.”

The students feel they were stripped of their dreams, and now wait for further help. 

“Before it happened, we were really excited to come to the U.S. We thought that we would be pursuing our dreams,” said Ramarkrishna.