In the Theatre and Performing Arts and Literary Arts masters degree programs at Brown, grads work as teaching assistants supporting undergraduate education. But over this coming summer, Brown is paying them only $3378 for the entire summer.

Grads at Brown unionized because our labor as teachers and researchers has value, and we need fair pay and working conditions in order to focus on our work as scholars and artists. In stipend negotiations this spring, we fought for a real raise to a living wage, and won an effective 12.9% increase to our pay. But Brown is sidestepping our raise agreement because masters grads don't teach over the summer, even while appropriately paying over $9,000 to those of us who are doctoral students - who also aren't teaching.

Like any teacher, we still have bills to pay when school isn't in session. We need financial stability in order to both make progress in our programs and be the best educators we can be. These surprise cuts are creating a financial crisis for affected masters grads, while amounting to less than pocket change for Brown.

The cuts are also part of a pattern of Brown trying to cut masters grads out of our union. We're still in arbitration with the university over the status of masters grad researchers, who Brown is trying to cut out of our bargaining unit, and is paying less than half as much as they pay doctoral researchers for the exact same work.

Please help us fight back against these divide-and-conquer cuts by sending a letter to Dean of the Graduate School Tal Lewis, President Christina Paxson and Provost Richard Locke telling them that masters grads deserve a living summer wage.