After an arduous 13-hour-long drive the previous day, we were finally here. The day was March 22, 2024, and we were ready to attend Occidental’s Early Decision Reception. Attempting to beat the LA traffic, we arrived hours before the day’s scheduled activities. As far as we could tell from our lost wandering, it was a normal day on campus. That was, until we left the bookstore.
I heard a commotion and bolted off to discover its cause. Surprisingly, I found hundreds of students demanding Occidental recognize their union. I was confused, yet excited. How many students can say that they have a student labor union, and not just a student union? Idaho is a right-to-work state, and only 4.5 percent of the workforce is unionized. By organizing on a scale inconceivable for Idaho’s full-time employees, they left me awe-struck. Here were all these people, working together to make a dramatic change. I realized that I could make a true difference here. My doubts about Occidental soon subsided, and my college story became intertwined with Rising Occidental Student Employees (ROSE).
I’ll admit, my nerves were through the roof before the Sept. 1 meeting. How would I fit in with the students who had already been there? Would I be able to speak up when needed, or would I choke under the pressure? In the past, I never engaged in political activism. Idaho is staunchly conservative, and the only groups with any real power are the “good old boys” and the far-right Idaho Freedom Foundation. It seemed like a lost cause to try to change things. Nonetheless, I was excited to take on a big role and to get involved with something meaningful in my life.
Contrary to what I feared, I was met with a warm welcome from the returning students. Once we completed introductions and I learned that ROSE won the election, I learned our mission for the next few months: getting people to fill out a survey so we could begin bargaining by the end of the semester. Geez, how was I ever going to talk to random students and get them to fill out this survey? I thought this might be easiest by figuring out what my “reasons why” were.
My reasons why are inexorably interwoven with my life since 2020. Since my father was disabled in a semi-truck accident in 2012, my mother had to work. She held a job until COVID-19 came around. When the company forced a return to the office, the building was not ready: the desks were dirty and the women’s bathroom lacked hot water. A few days after she pointed this out, she was fired. My family started a business after this, but our income is still inconsistent. That and the nothing-burger of my father’s disability case left us financially strained. Tuition is still a high burden with the financial aid, and working 10 hours a week doesn’t feel like enough. That’s not even including what will happen when I hit the earnings cap and get forced out of the jobs that I love. My family already worries about money enough; they shouldn’t have to worry about me as well. By helping ROSE succeed, I could reduce the stress tuition would be, helping my family and I.
I give credit to the family business for guiding my efforts in ROSE. Across our many craft bazaars and road shows, my family (and especially my father) could effortlessly engage with total strangers. By drawing upon that experience, a switch flipped in my mind, and I was suddenly able to reach out to others. I tabled whenever I could, even buying a table to allow for outreach after SAC hours. Sometimes, I was a little too engaged. One night, I decided to canvas next to my fellow Berkus House residents selling grilled cheese sandwiches to partygoers. My enthusiasm blinded my judgment at times, but I was always willing to reach out to other people. I wouldn’t have been nearly as successful if I didn’t have experience in my family’s business.
Before joining college, I was disconnected from my classmates due to a heavy online class load and missed out on building many of the soft skills that high school develops. Joining ROSE changed all of that. My college experience would not be anywhere near the same without them, and I look forward to seeing how we develop throughout the bargaining process and the remainder of the year.
Contact Taylor Hubbard at thubbard@oxy.edu
I am so proud of this fine young man. (The fact that he is my Grandson, MIGHT have something to do with it.) Yes, the area of Idaho he is from is very conservative as I also lean that direction, but I have empathy for many of the things that take place. He has overcome a LOT to reach this point, and I appreciate the people he is meeting thru the school that are willing to help him adjust. I can hardly wait to see what direction his career choices make and what good he will contribute to this world.