DearBarnard FGLI/OP Student Petition Updates

The following is from an email sent to us by DearBarnard:

"Since mid July your fellow classmates at Barnard College, wanted to bring to your attention the lack of support given to First Generation Low-Income (FGLI) and Opportunity Programs (OP) students at Barnard College. We created two petitions written by a group of (OP) students on behalf of all FGLI and OP students on Barnard’s campus. The first petition outlines our concerns and list of demands to the Barnard Administration. Therein, we explain the ways the Barnard Administration has fallen short of our expectations as well as describe our calls for action. The second petition outlines a list of demands specifically to the OP Administration. Therein, we describe ways that OP can better provide for us in the upcoming academic year and in the future. Generally, our concerns around how Barnard College has handled the COVID-19 crisis are centered around a lack of communication and transparency, inadequate financial aid, housing insecurity, and insufficient academic support.

We have attached a PDF that contains updates for the work that we have been doing for FGLI and OP students. We ask that you take 5 minutes of your time to read through the PDF we created.

We will be having an informal meeting from 7 PM to 10 PM EST on Thursday, August 13th, to listen to any concerns or input students may have. This meeting is open to all Barnard FGLI and OP students. Anyone interested in attending should contact us through our Instagram @dearbarnard or email us at dearbarnard@gmail.com.

We will also post regular updates on our Instagram page, @dearbarnard.

Here’s our original petitions for your reference:

• Barnard College FGLI & Opportunity Programs Student Demands
• Barnard College Opportunity Programs (OP) Student Demands

* For those of you who aren’t aware, OP consists of three programs: the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), and Barnard Opportunity Program (BOP). These programs are designed to support the historically underrepresented (African-American, Latinx, Native-American and Alaskan-Natives) and/or the financially disadvantaged. Note that many OP students also fall under the FGLI umbrella."