An open letter to President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim from the United Staff of Columbia College in response to the Careers at Columbia College Chicago job posting for a housekeeper at the President’s residence:

Dear Dr. Kim:

We are responding with enthusiasm to your job posting for a housekeeper! As Columbia College union staff members whose individual yearly salaries do not approach $1 million, we appreciate the opportunity to clean the mansion of someone whose total compensation does.

Not having received an appreciable raise in years – while simultaneously watching our colleagues’ positions get slashed, our workloads increase, and our healthcare costs rise – a part-time job is exactly what we need to make ends meet!

Some key strengths of ours that you may find relevant include:

• Ability to get by while being underpaid for years on end

• Dedication to performing our jobs while the Administration stalls on our union contract

• Capacity to smile in the face of our healthcare costs potentially skyrocketing while our pay severely lags behind

• Tolerance for watching the Administration ignore the inequality of compensation for union staff members, many of whom hold traditionally marginalized identities, while at the same time the Administration declares concern for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the curriculum

• Continued commitment to work as team players!

We believe we have the skills you are looking for in a housekeeper, and we would appreciate a personal meeting to discuss this position further. We look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for your leadership by example.

– The United Staff of Columbia College