Frequently Asked Questions:
Submit one! email nolimitsgrinnell@gmail.com with “FAQ” as the subject line
1) Who are you?
We are Grinnell College students, who decided to organize for change because we are frustrated that the college markets itself as an institution dedicated to social justice while allowing many injustices to remain institutionalized on this campus. We are a diverse group of students from all class-years, academic disciplines, and many different student organizations.
Interested in joining? Our membership is open, and we try to be non-hierarchical. Meetings are on Mondays in the Voicebox at 8pm, and all students are welcome to join!
For an explanation of the project see here.
2) How can I get in touch with you?
We have 30 designated student contacts named in our official list of demands. These are not leaders. They are students that have been selected to speak for the group. They check our email account, <nolimitsgrinnell@gmail.com> regularly. Any official correspondence with the project should be addressed to their individual Grinnell campus mailboxes.
3) What does your name mean?
So what about the name? If you aren’t on campus now or receiving mail from the Office of Admissions, you might not know that over the past two years, a new slogan has been phased in – “No Limits”. On recruiting materials, Grinnell College is cast as “a road to a place of endless possibilities”.
While the obvious errors in these statements have been amply documented elsewhere (a particularly good list can be found on the wall in Bob’s Underground Cafe), we want to be clear: Grinnell has limits, especially when it comes to its commitments to social responsibility and justice. We cordially invite you to join us in our effort to push them.
4) Given the economic crisis and the precarious financial situation of Grinnell College, how can your group make demands that require increased spending?
In many cases, it comes down to what our priorities are. Are our priorities excessive salaries, or on-campus mental health services? Are our priorities extravagant events such as the Noyce Commemoration, or minimizing our carbon footprint? If we cut the amount of money we spend on recruitment and big theatrical presentations and instead made investments in diversity, conflict resolution, and community service, among other commitments, we would still attract students. Why spend money to say we’re an institution concerned with social justice, when we could just spend that money and actually become more socially just?
The issue of hiring is particularly sensitive right now as the College has instated a supposed “hiring freeze” due to financial reasons. Yet Student Affairs just created a new position in residence life. This demonstrates that the College has the ability to meet legitimate needs even under financial restrictions. But where specifically should the College find this money to hire and pay the new staff that we demand? Well, they could start looking in their own pocketbooks :) Cutting the salaries of the College President and Treasurer in half would pay for the hiring of all of the positions that we have asked for.
While this comment is somewhat in jest, it is something to seriously consider. What are the implications for social justice of paying ridiculously high wages to a few people and maintaining such an inequitable income gap in our community? And why should we have to do without the staff that we truly need to meet our commitments to social justice?
Also, some things are just worth using a larger percentage of the endowment for.
And lastly, many of our demands are not expensive! The monetary costs of establishing a Responsible Investment Committee, investment transparency, Hate Crimes Response Policy, granting students access to decision-making processes, and reviews of staff hiring and firing and faculty retention are very small compared to their benefit.
5) Why are you making demands? Why not try a more constructive approach?
See explanation of project here, in particular the section on student activism. In sum, we are demanding because we have been asking for too long. Students have already worked in committees and meetings with all the right people, and submitted budgets and proposals to those same people for years. The “formal channels of institutional change” are not working. See the pages in the Resources section for specifics, especially the history listings linked at the top. As the majority of students who make use of those formal channels, we in no way negate their usefulness or reject their possibility. We are simply putting pressure onto the administration to make those channels more effective.
Finally note that the direct, aggressive demand style is an intentional strategy. Organized student pressure has been an integral part of Grinnell history and absolutely imperative in changing the College into what it is today. The need to employ these strategies occasionally will never be obsolete.
6) Why won’t the PDFs linked on this site open?
We’re not entirely sure why the PDFs we have up won’t open on all computers. Some are hosted on acrobat beta, so if the computer or browser you’re using isn’t fully compatible with that, then you won’t be able to see the PDFs. We’re in the process of moving PDFs off Acrobat Beta; please be patient. Make sure your browser and Flash is up to date.
If you’re on a campus computer, Internet Explorer almost always works if it’s fully updated; Firefox works sometimes, but often shows an error message about the Flash being out of date.
7) How did you come up with the timeline for the demands in the original letter?
We consulted folks who know how long stuff takes!
Seriously though, we recognize that the dates set out in the timeline are very ambitious. However, we specifically selected dates for each demand after seriously considering how long it might take to implement if the administrators who were addressed began work immediately (note that many demands only call for things like the establishment of external reviews, and or the publication of statements of commitment or of plans that have already been drawn up).
Lastly, like this entire project, aiming high provides room for negotiation.
8) But Grinnell is a great place. Why are these changes needed?
Grinnell is a great place most of the time, hence our reputation for being socially responsible. That means that we should have a high standard of what this College should be. What was great in 1985 is not good enough today. As a socially responsible institution, we must be continually pushing the limits of what it means to be great at what we do. We are not only behind lots of other colleges in a lot of the No Limits demands, we are also behind the expectations and organized push of the student body.
If you do not understand the importance or history of any of the demands, click on its resource page (on the left side bar) to find a full history of the campaign behind it, broken or unfulfilled college promises, and an explanation of its necessity.
9) I do not necessarily support No Limits but would like to attend a meeting and listen in or voice my concerns. Will my presence be welcome and are all active participants in No Limits willing to have their presence at and comments during meetings observed?
Having been confronted with the issue of opposition presence at our meetings, we have concluded the following.
We of the No Limits Project are committed to openness. To us, being open is central to being non-hierarchical and to allowing all those concerned to be heard within the movement.
We see the honesty this requires as being part of our activism. While we hope that those who attend our meetings represent us responsibly, we know that our words may be repeated anywhere, at any time. The risk inherent in giving up secrecy is one way of putting ourselves on the line for what we believe in.
We believe that there is great power in putting yourself on the line for what you believe in.
Thus, all are welcome at our meetings. While we intend to maintain a focused and respectful atmosphere in which our work can be accomplished, in the future we will not seek this atmosphere by asking anyone to leave.
10) Why are the Laurel Leaves/Mating Slugs on the logo upside down?
By turning the laurel leaves upside down the No Limits Project is using the symbol of Grinnell College to send a distress signal. Throughout much of history, hanging a national flag upside down has been used as a cry for help from distressed parties, from people lost at sea to countries in the midst of war. In recent history, the upside down American flag has been used symbolically by Americans protesting the Iraq war, indicating that the nation is in distress. Turning the symbol of the college upside down is simply our way of recognizing the distressing state of social justice issues on campus.
See http://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distress_signals for more information.
11) Change is achieved through committee work. Have you been involved in campus groups and committees?
We’ve been active in all parts of this community. We’ve served on high-level committees. We are intimately familiar with how they work and thus understand the inadequacy of agitating for change solely via traditional avenues of power. Here’s our resume:
Ad-Hoc Committee on Issues of Disability
AJust Grinnell
All Campus Events (ACE) Security
Apparel Purchasing Committee
Burling Library Circulation Staff
Chalutzim
Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites
Coalition of Progressive Democrats (CPD)
Community Garden
Community Meal
Community Needs Assessment
Computer Science SEPC
Concerned Black Students (CBS)
Cross Country
Dance Team
Debating Union
Dining Committee
Dining Services
DVA/SAC
EcoCampus
EcoHouse
Education SEPC
English SEPC
Feminist Action Coalition
Free the Planet!
Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) SEPC
Gender Neutral Committee
Grinnell College Christian Fellowship (GCCF)
Grinnell Eyewitness
Grinnell Outdoor Recreation Program (GORP)
Grinnell Prison Program
Grinnell Review
Grinnell Singers
Kid’s Art
Latin American Ensemble
Latin American Solidarity Group (LASG)
Library SEPC
Local Foods Buying Co-Op
Mock Trial
Mortar Board
Mortar Board Academic Journal
New Student Orientation Committee
Neverland Players
Office of Admissions Student Staff
Peace Studies Committee
Peer Connections Program
Political Science SEPC
Posse
Queer People of Color (QPOC)
ReNew Orleans
Rosenfield Committee
Safe Space Workshop
Scarlet & Black
School of Americas vigil
Senior Challenge
Sexual Assault Committee
SGA Senate
SGA Student Environmental Committee (SGASEC)
SGA Student Programming Committee (SPC)
Social Entrepreneurs of Grinnell (SEG)
Social Justice Action Group (SJAG)
Sociology SEPC
STIFund
StoneCo
Stonewall Resource Center (SRC)
Student Athletic Advisory Committee
Student Campaign for Increased Political Engagement (SCIPE)
Student Life Committee
Student Organization of Latino/as (SOL)
Student Staff (SA)
Students for Responsible Investing (SRI)
Swim Team
Technology Consultant (TC) corps
Theater Department
Titular Head
Track & Field
Trans Action
Varsity Diving Team
Voicebox
Volleyball
Water Polo
