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Web Exclusives: More letters from alumni
about Low wages at Princeton Re: Students protesting on behalf of low-wage workers (Notebook, May 16). As the son of a Princeton janitor (Philip H. Diggdon - janitor at 1879 Hall from 1940-50, grounds and buildings office lackey from 1950-75, then mailman and general flunky until he retired at age 68 in 1974, the year I attended my 20th reunion), I feel qualified to offer these protesting students some advice. 1) Spend your time and energy studying. 2) Spend your time and energy learning. 3) Spend your time and energy making us proud of scholastic achievements. In 1940, janitors had no union ( My dad helped organize the first P.U. union and was the secretary-treasurer as he was one of the few that could read, write, and do math. Janitors had no health or pension benefits. In order not to starve, my dad spent his weekends and late evenings doing the yard work at the large Snowden estate owned by Bernard Kilgore of the Wall Street Journal, and at the Norman and Marian Mackey estate out by the Hun School. The three jobs consumed 12 hours a day seven days a week. Princeton University allowed us to rent a house on Charleton St. behind Colonial Club. The area is now a parking lot for the engineering school. My clothes were castoffs from the inhabitants of 1879 Hall. A janitor's son got to attend Princeton University tuition free. On June 15, 1954, the day of my graduation, my dad was a guard making time and a half. You do-gooders need to let the university set wages in accordance with the employee's skill. I made it through Northwestern Medical School (Columbia said I did not fit there when the interviewer saw my dad's yearly income.), Cook County internship, and Johns Hopkins and Tulane urological surgical training. Princeton's award to my Dad for 34 years of low-pay devotion to the university was a large photograph of Nassau Hall autographed by then President William Bowen. Dad took "early retirement" because one month earlier he had found out that his three months of accumulated pay vacation had been cancelled with no notice when he had turned 65. The Harvard "do-gooders" need also heed my advice. Philip D. Diggdon '54 Tulsa, Okla.
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to this letter In reading Houghton Hutcheson's letter to the editor in the April 4 PAW, I was surprised by his assertion that the staggering cost of a Princeton education was significantly affected by the wages paid to janitorial and food service staff. I myself would be quite surprised if that is where the $4,000 increase in tuition and fees between my graduation in 1997 and the current price tag of $33,000 actually came from. I suspect that the tuition and fee increase has a great deal more to do with improved technology on campus, increased student academic programs, or improved buildings. Given that the wages of the workers in question have reportedly not kept pace with inflation while tuition increases out paced inflation it seems that the additional money gathered in fees and tuition must be going elsewhere. The rise in university costs is shocking, but I find it hard to believe that the cost cycle is significantly driven by the labor costs in the service sector of the university. Furthermore, I am in agreement with the other two letters from that same issue by Liadan O'Callaghan and Chris Shepherd. More than money is at stake in this campaign. I am tremendously proud of my alma mater in many ways, but this particular issue touches an area where I am ashamed of the great institution of learning that shaped and formed me. It was my observation that service workers were often treated with marked disrespect by a small but visible minority of students and that such behavior was accepted by the larger community. It was most obvious to me in the area of dorm life, where concern for the person who had to clean up after one's activities was absolutely absent on too many occasions to count. I am currently in my first year at another institution of higher learning and the difference in campus culture with respect to service workers is notable. While I am certain that our janitor and food service staff are not paid at the same rate our dean and president, they are treated with dignity and respect by all members of the community. No one would dream of leaving the kinds of messes behind that people routinely left at Princeton and students regularly express gratitude for the work they do to make it possible for us to concentrate on studying. I would hope that the campaign run by the Workers Rights Organizing Committee has an effect on more than just the administration. I would hope that it provokes some thought on the part of students about the tremendous gift that has been given to them in being able to study full time at a four year university like Princeton and how they might be called to treat those who make it possible for them to exercise that gift. Erin Christensen '97 Berkeley, Calif.
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