Lemon-Aiders and "UMass Administrators" Mix and Mingle at UMass Board of Trustees Meeting 3/14/07

Graduate student employees Swati Birla and Irene Boeckmann, dressed as lemons "squeezed by fees" and in need of "lemon-aid," and Nate Johnson and Jeremy Wolf, posing as fat-cat administrators who've benefited from exorbitant raises, attended the UMass Trustees Meeting on 3/14/07 to protest yet another proposed increase in student fees.

UMass claims that the persistent lack of adequate funding from the state is to blame for the pinch students, faculty and staff feel on the Amherst campus. What they don't want you to know is that they consistently make poor choices with the funding the University does receive--diverting funds this year that were promised to increase the number of faculty on campus to increase the number of administrators (and their salaries) instead.

Chancellor Lombardi received a 39% increase this year, raising his salary to more than $370,000--more than double the salary of the Governor in MA. And what do we have to show for it???