Nobody Fails VC

𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙐𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚
We appreciate the support and solidarity many of you have shown over the past few days! Here are updates to the strike and additional resources for striking and supporting the strike for students who cannot take direct action. Additionally, please fill out the 𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗟!

𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘
We’ve altered our strike strategy based on feedback we have received from students, faculty, and community members. As of this morning, we have sent out an email to all Vassar professors informing them of our intent to strike starting Monday. This message asks them to email Nobody Fails VC with the phrase “I commit to a no-fail policy” and tell their students, in writing, that no one will fail. If a professor guarantees in writing that no student will fail, strikers WILL NOT strike their classes. If a professor does not provide this statement, strikers WILL strike their classes.

We are working alongside faculty to advocate for a No Fail policy--one that will serve both students and faculty who are struggling in this time of crisis. Our goal is to ensure a No Fail policy regardless of the CCP’s decision to reopen voting or implement a college wide policy, although that outcome would be ideal and that is the outcome we’re fighting for. We appreciate the work that individual students, faculty, and admin have done thus far to push for this.

Nobody Fails Feedback Form Nobody Fails Vassar College has adjusted our demands since they were first released on April 13th. Now, we need your feedback to make sure these demands continue to reflect our needs as Vassar students! We will adapt our demands and strategies based on your responses. Thank you for your time! There....

ARE YOU IN SUPPORT OF UP / AA BUT CAN'T STRIKE?

Hi students! Many of you have reached out and expressed support for our movement and demands. Many of you need UP/AA and additional financial support from the college at this time. However, many of you have also reported that you cannot or will not participate in the strike because of the inherent risks. We know that for many students, having class structure is necessary for your mental health, and don’t want to take away the one thing keeping you sane. We also know that several of you have unaccommodating professors and worry that your striking will damage your grades or prevent you from graduating. We recommend that everyone who is able and agrees with even one of our demands to strike with us. We are most powerful as a collective, and will affect the most change if we have a critical mass of striking students. Even so, we’ve put together a number of ways that people who cannot strike but still want to help can support the movement.

1. Attend our weekly tea time sit-ins! We had our first sit-in this past Wednesday, and hope that they only improve from here on out. We are in the process of making an anonymous form for students to raise concerns about the current academic and financial climate. Organizers will read these questions. If you’re comfortable asking the questions yourself, we welcome and encourage new voices!

2. Participate in our email-bombs! This is another way for students to show the power of our collective presence despite our lacking physical presence. We will be releasing more information on when and how often these emails will take place once the strike begins. Our plan is to release a time at which all participating students will send an email to an email list of administrators. This email will contain several questions that have been repeatedly posed by organizers and have been ignored by admin. We will likely do these email-bombs 3-4 times a week, and will have regular updates on our page.

3. Have individual conversations with your professors about implementing a Double A policy in their classroom. Let us know if your professors are being particularly unaccommodating. We are trying to gauge faculty opinion and contact resources who have made themselves known through our faculty form, but we can only do this if all faculty respond. With your added input, we can contact faculty and departments who have shown unwillingness to change and have longer 1-on-1 conversations on why we believe UP/AA is necessary.

4. If you have class or a good relationship with a department head, ask them if their department has considered going Double A or No Fail, and if not, why? Several departments have already announced they are not failing anyone this semester, and more are in the process of determining this. The more departments that will not allow a student to fail, the more power we have to towards a no-fail policy.

5. Continue to fill out our feedback form and send us emails if you’d like some clarification.

6. Talk to your friends and classmates, encouraging them to join you in your efforts to support UP or Double A. You can organize together and coordinate as a class how you will discuss grading policy with your professor.

**This post has been edited to remove the suggestion of striking into classes.

ATTENTION: Virtual sit-in TONIGHT for Universal Pass / AA

When? 9pm-9:30pm EST
Where? PB's Tea: https://vassar.zoom.us/j/92454372149
How?
1. Download icon at bit.ly/strikevcicon (also linked below in this post)
2. Open Zoom through Vassar OneLogin (https://vassar.zoom.us/j/92454372149)
3. Click "Profile" to the left of the page and click "Change" underneath your profile picture
4. Click "Upload," select the icon you downloaded, resize it, and click "Save"
5. You're good to go! When you join Zoom, mute your audio and video