"A group of angry University of Virginia students and other “living wage” advocates circled the University of Virginia Rotunda on Friday afternoon carrying a car-sized sign and shouting through a screeching megaphone.

They sought to attract the attention of members of the Board of Visitors who gathered inside for a routine meeting.

Speakers questioned the university’s leadership and demanded a living wage of $10.72 for all UVa workers.

“Human dignity is worth fighting for,” UVa student Andrew P. Pratt said. “We ought to pay the people who make this place beautiful enough to live.”

Living wage proponents celebrated a victory last month when President John T. Casteen III announced that all academic and medical center employees would earn at least $9.37 an hour, 49 cents an hour more than the previous bottom pay rate. Casteen attributed the increase to a market survey analysis.

UVa Living Wage Campaign organizers demanded more.

A few of the student leaders met with Casteen and other administrators more than a week ago to discuss the students’ concern over what they describe as sub-par salaries. At the rally, the students claimed that one of the administrators had said: “Social justice has nothing to do with the mission of this university.”

“If that’s true, we’re in the wrong damn place,” said third-year student Benjamin Van Dyne after sharing the alleged comment with the crowd of about 50 people.

But Carol Wood, university spokeswoman, denied that a high-ranking official made the comment. Casteen, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Leonard W. Sandridge and Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Yoke San L. Reynolds met with the students.

“President Casteen, in good faith, invited four students to have a conversation about these issues,” Wood said. “It appears that, for whatever reason, they have chosen to misrepresent the content, the spirit and the tone of this meeting. The president and Mr. Sandridge both are disappointed by what they heard was said today and believe that their words have been distorted. This is most unfortunate and does nothing to promote substantive dialogue on the issue. This no longer feels like an honest debate.”

Living wage advocates continue to push for an increase in workers’ wages, insisting a pay rate hike would have far-reaching effects.

A living wage “is a drain on the economy, but when people have money in their pockets, they spend it … which helps the economy,” said Karen Waters, executive director of the Quality Community Council and a UVa graduate.

Casteen has emphasized the value benefits add to a worker’s total compensation. At the $9.37 rate, benefits add $3.29 an hour.

“The university pays a competitive salary based on current market analysis to its entry-level employees, in addition to providing them with extraordinary benefits that amount to an additional $6,843 a year,” Wood said.

But the living wage proponents rallying around the Rotunda said workers should be paid more. A university dedicated to social justice should live its words, they said.

“The basic thing in education is to set a good example,” said Catherine Peaslee, former publisher of the now-defunct Charlottesville weekly newspaper The Observer. “Speaking with one voice and acting in another way is hypocritical.”" (Melanie Mayhew, The Daily Progress, April 8, 2006)