Not providing adequate lactation stations at University of Chicago is an odd problem to have and last time I checked the year was 2013. It seems to me, as an outsider to this world class and illustrious institution, this is an easy fix.
Note: for this article I will not comment on the drive to unionize graduate teaching assistants or to increase pay and benefits (not to mention adjuncts), but I will ask this simple question; what should University of Chicago do to do the right thing for its students?
As stated in the article, federal law requires, “a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public, which may be used by an employee to express breast milk.”
Having a one-year old, I know all too well what my wife has gone through when trying to breastfeed in public or pump at work. Luckily her work has been supportive in providing a place to breastfeed even though she is not a full-time employee, but when she has been out, stores and other locations have been far from supportive. First of all, a bathroom is not an adequate place to breastfeed or pump; feel free to read the spirited discussion of first hand accounts in the comments section of the Inside Higher Ed article. Next, pumping is very different than breastfeeding; you need a quiet, private place to pump with no interruptions or fear of being walked in on. Besides the modesty aspect of pumping, you need to focus on the task on hand and relax; something you cannot do if you are nervous about someone walk in on you or if the person next to you in the bathroom is doing their business.
A quick background on University of Chicago. University of Chicago is highly ranked by all the ranking organizations; Times Higher Education, QS World University Rankings, Academic Rankings of World Universities, Washington Monthly, Forbes, and US News & World Report (I am sure I forgot some). University of Chicago has an endowment of $6.5 billion with around 14,000 students; the majority being graduate or professional students.
Because of the rankings, endowment, and everything else, Univesity of Chicago attracts highly motivated and accomplished students, faculty, and staff. I assume University of Chicago wants to be known as an employer of choice and offer excellent support and benefits to all their faculty and staff; even institutions like University of Chicago, Ivy League institutions, Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, and the like around the world have to compete with each other for talent. I will state the obvious, University of Chicago is not Chicago State University, a public institution 5.5 miles south with a small endowment (not to pick on Chicago State University); they can afford to update or add a few lactation stations to meet the needs of their students, faculty, and staff.
It seems the crux of the article, from the author’s perspective, is for colleges and universities to recognize graduate teaching assistants as employees because they would then be eligible for benefits. I am not sure if graduate students are considered part-time employees not eligible for benefits or if they are contract employees (not eligible for benefits), but University of Chicago should do the right thing and provide private lactation stations not only to their employees but students.
If University of Chicago provides more private lactation stations they will create a truly family friendly campus and get a lot of marketing mileage out of this simple benefit. But if they don’t and if enough women and men are affected by this along and other non-family friendly issues, real or perceived, then highly motivated and qualified students, faculty, and staff will go somewhere else to study, teach, and work. And if this happens enough times, University of Chicago’s world academic standing will take a hit, and even a modest hit in the rankings will upset the board of directors and the alumni association forcing University of Chicago to do the right thing.
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