The new co-Presidents of the Fairfield Beach Residence Organization (BRO), Gianna Anastasio ’16 and Evan Cyprus ’16, formally announced through an email to the senior class that dues for those seniors not living on Fairfield Beach need to be paid by Sept. 30.
In their email, Anastasio and Cyprus addressed the fact that the money accumulated by these dues would offset the cost for off-campus beach events, which would allow seniors not living on the beach to participate in those events.
An email was sent out to seniors living on the beach this year on Aug. 28, asking students to pay the same fee as those seniors living on campus by Sept. 9.
The email was sent out to all seniors living on campus on Sept. 18, asking the students to pay $140 per student. Student athletes were asked to pay $100 per student. Accompanied with the email was a link to a website Anastasio and Cyprus said students can utilize to see “detailed explanations on what [their] senior year will be like, including more information on senior dues, the full 2015-2016 calendar, our newly added events, and Nauts,” the email stated.
Anastasio and Cyprus said in their email that they would prefer payment through either cash or Venmo, an app on which you can pay and request money from others. The payment would be submitted to Cyprus and Anastasio’s personal Venmo accounts.
Many students, such as Juliana Killip ‘16, felt that the issue of class dues was handled poorly by the BRO co-presidents.
Killip said that she thought the class dues were expensive, and “although it would last the entire year, it seems unrealistic for me to put down $140 when the dues do not even include transportation to and from the beach as well as the amount of alcohol I would consume.”
Senior Brigid Callahan also felt that the $140 senior dues were an unreasonable price for students to pay.
“The price of $140, however, is a steep one to pay for partying expenses and not an amount that I, or many other students, can afford to pay,” Callahan said.
Killip also felt that students who are not heavy drinkers should not have to pay as much in senior dues, since a portion of the money from the senior dues will be used to purchase alcohol for senior events on the beach.
“Personally for me I am not the type of person to consume that much alcohol so it seems as if I am paying for other people’s alcohol, which for me is not putting my own money to use. I would rather pay for my drinks as I go,” Killip said.
Many students also wished that the purpose of the senior dues and where the money from the senior dues would be going would have been made clearer by the BRO co-presidents.
Callahan said that she “was under the impression that we had to pay the $140 before ticket prices for major events like Mock Wedding and Clam Jam, which, although ‘beach’ events, are events that a lot of seniors like to go to even if they don’t party at the beach regularly. Apparently that isn’t the case, and you can still go to Mock Wedding and Clam Jam by just getting your tickets.”
“I know I will not be paying the dues as it doesn’t make sense for me to when the only two events I want to go to are available through their own tickets,” Callahan added.
Beyond the senior dues themselves, many students also had issues with the manner in which Anastasio and Cyprus informed the seniors of the dues.
For Killip, the line the BRO co-presidents wrote on the website, which reads “So DON’T be that guy (or girl) that doesn’t pay your dues,” was inappropriate, as it seems to say “that if someone can’t afford it, he or she should feel bad,” Killip said.
Killip feels that the entire concept of the senior dues is extraneous. “Since it is my last year I care about having a good time with my good friends and making the best out of each opportunity; therefore, I can put my money to better use and pay for the alcohol that I want and can handle.”
When asked about the notification the co-presidents sent out about the senior class dues, Anastasio and Cyprus said that they wished to not comment on the matter.
Very misleading information. So misleading, it is practically untrue. I am ashamed to see a Fairfield University student practically “bash” their own classmates – that are trying to make a great year for everyone in their grade.