Washington and Lee (W&L) has an outstanding financial aid program. With the W&L Promise that started in 2014, students from families with an annual income of $75,000 or less are guaranteed free tuition and that W&L will match all demonstrated need with student employment and grants. Because of how generous the income cut-off is, the W&L Promise is able to include families that even QuestBridge, the nation's top recruiting program for high-achieving low-income students, has to typically leave out. Additionally, loans are only offered as a way to help families meet the determined expected family contribution.

Applying to Washington and Lee four years ago through QuestBridge, I was happy that I ended up with one of the best scholarship packages, even among my QuestBridge friends who were matched at other schools. Unlike them, I was not required to contribute anything from the start -- no summer earnings, no savings, nothing. Of course, at that point, I had nothing to contribute anyways, but I was glad that I did not have to take out loans like some of them did.

All of this is not to say that Washington and Lee is a perfect place for low-income students. In some ways, it is great -- but there are still other ways in which W&L could better support its lower-income students. Here are five.

1. Allow students to withdraw money from their student accounts earlier than September 20th.

For first-years, orientation week ("o-week") started right after Move In Day on September 3rd. For many first-years going on pre-orientation ("pre-o") trips, to meet new friends while hiking the Appalachian Trail or volunteering in a nearby city, Move In Day was August 28th. Upperclassmen moved in sometime between August 23rd, if they helped with pre-o trips or other o-week activities, and before classes started on September 8th.

My point? That setting September 20th as the first day for student account transfers creates unnecessary difficulties for students and causes more stress.

First off, getting to Lexington is no small cost -- as many students can attest to. I was lucky to get a flight from Boston to Richmond for only $130, but I needed a taxi from Richmond. I called a cab company from Lexington to come get me, and it cost $230 ($40 cheaper than cab companies in Richmond).

Second, students living off-campus need to pay rent on their apartments. In my case, I had paid rent for August, but by September 5th September's rent was due. By September 20th, electricity, water, and Internet bills will need to have been paid too.

Third, we need to cover food, books, supplies, and other miscellaneous expenses. The objection here is that we should use our University card -- but before the day classes started, when the dining hall and cafes were not open, we could not use our University card in town or at grocery stores. First-years anxious to buy their first laptops could not do so if they were waiting on University funds. All students know that the Bookstore charges ridiculously high prices for books, and who can blame us for wanting to save money by looking at Amazon? An objection here is that students should use the full allotment of $800 for books and not expect to have any extra money -- but that "extra money" that we save often goes towards the other things that low-income students need to cover, like supporting family, buying the things that will help us "fit in" on W&L's campus, and other things that come up during the year.

Bottom line: if the money is ours already, especially in the case of returning students, W&L should not make us wait that long to give us access to our funds. Having students with full scholarships who need to make GoFundMe pages to get necessary supplies for college, or to even get to college, does not reflect well on W&L.

2. Arrange shuttles to nearby cities, where airports, train stations, and bus stations are.

W&L owns a bunch of large buses we lovingly refer to as "Traveller" (our safe-ride system), a bunch of vans through the Geology department, and some more vans with the Outing Club. Yet, for every break -- Thanksgiving, Christmas, February, and April -- there is no school-arranged transportation to any nearby city. Of course, there are also no airports, train stations, or bus stations in Lexington.

How does it work now? There is one cab company, a "Ride Share" group on Facebook for W&L students looking to carpool, and sometimes a shuttle arranged by the International Student coordinator for international students to get rides to the airport. This is not enough. Many low-income students do not have their own cars, and live a decent way away from Lexington, and not everyone has friend with a car who is willing to drive them. Even if the school could just help arrange some shuttles but charge a fee, it would help immensely.

3. Help students during school breaks, with getting food and storing things, and with Parents and Family Weekend.

The Admissions Office helps to bring low-income students to campus for Admitted Students Day, and pays for gas if driving (so your whole family could come) or for a plane ticket for you and one adult (so at least one parent/guardian can go with you). Once enrolled, the Office of Financial Aid does not allot any money for scholarship recipients to bring their families for Parents and Family Weekend. True, some families would not be able to come due to work schedules and other obligations, but the costs of trying to bring family here are just as expensive as getting here yourself. Plus, all hotels in the area (even motels) jack up their prices for the weekend, so a hotel for three nights can cost almost $600. Parents and Family Weekend is a relatively big affair on our campus, but who is usually 'orphaned'? Typically, it's the students who are low-income or international.

As for school breaks, the dining hall remains open but you cannot use meal plans. After talking to a Dining Services Business Office employee, I found out that this is because of a state-law dictating when meal plans (which are tax-free) can be used -- but I still feel like the a la carte food prices could be re-evaluated. One reason why I started going on the W&L Alternative Break Service Trips was purely cost-benefit analysis; it is only $100 to go on a break trip, with food, lodging, and transportation included, but to stay on campus for a week feeding yourself would cost about the same if not more.

Storage is another issue, as there are not many storage facilities available in the area. Students cannot store things on University property over the summer. Again, many low-income students don't have a car, so getting to those storage facilities is a pain.

4. Create a more supportive culture on campus.

Being a low-income student at W&L very much makes many students feel like they are an invisible minority. To create a more supportive and welcoming culture on campus, a few things could be done. First, hiring a Low Income/First Generation Student Resource staff member to add to the current Office of Diversity and Inclusion would be amazing. Currently, programming for low-income students on W&L's campus is primarily run by the QuestBridge Scholars chapter -- and is entirely student-run. As we are all full-time students, and many of us work jobs too, planning and running all of the programming on our own is sometimes a difficult task. If we had a staff member responsible for planning activities, hosting support meetings, and generally helping low-income students acclimate to the campus, it would really make a big difference. Many low-income students volunteer as mentors to younger students, but it would be nice to have an adult to point to for students who want to talk about different issues like how to budget, whether to join Greek life or not, and how to get funding for unpaid internships, study abroad, or going home.

Making a more supportive culture could also include training faculty about the realities of how diverse their classrooms are. Socioeconomic status is not something many students wear on their sleeves, and some actively try to hide their status. For that reason, professors should be aware that most of their classes may have students that don't come from the stereotypical W&L background. They must be mindful of the assumptions they make and the things they say while at the front of the room. Just the other day, in a managerial finance class, it was awkward as the professor asked us all who the most famous person we all met was, which sounds innocent enough, except for that most people in the room talked about going to political fundraisers or rubbing elbows at country clubs or private residences. Then, hearing him talk about how $50 is about two Martinis for him while it's "a lot to those families in Rockbridge" who take out payday loans was slightly uncomfortable, given that $50 to me is more than 5 hours of work study -- it's not just "a lot" to the families in the county, but also to some students in his class.

Lastly, the social norms at W&L need to continue to shift as more socioeconomic diversity makes up the school. Fraternities and sororities should reach a place where party themes like "Dirt Poor" and "Filthy Rich" (in which brand new TVs are bought to be thrown off roofs, and limos are hired to drive students around) are just as questionable as parties with blackface or themes like "Cowboys and Indians." Students should realize that it's not okay to tell someone, "Oh wow, I didn't know you were poor. You don't look poor" (real quote said to a friend). Students should also be more generally aware of the assumptions they are making about the other students around them.

5. Start a scholarship so that low-income students who want to go Greek can.

At W&L, in recent years, somewhere between 80% and 90% of the student body joins Greek life. Of course, this creates a unique pressure that almost every student feels as soon as they walk on campus. For low-income students, the question often is not only should I rush, but also how can I afford it?

Some Greek students will say that you can't fully experience W&L without going Greek, and others will say that it's just something they did because everyone else does at W&L. However, if you don't have the money to participate, it can be a hard decision to make. The registration fee for rush can be waived, but after that there are limited scholarships available from national chapters. A number of my friends with full rides to W&L chose to take out $4,000 in student loans to join a Greek organization, which may not seem like a lot, but it still puts those students in a bind. One option open to men is joining a fraternity as a social member (which is not officially an option, or endorsed by the school, IFC, or nationals, but exists nonetheless), though this significantly cheaper option is not available to women.

W&L has a phenomenal alumni network, the majority of which give back to the University frequently. I would be very surprised if the school couldn't find any way to start a scholarship so that Greek life could be accessible to all. W&L does a great job in their financial aid packages, but there is not funding that is available to be used for Greek life. By bringing low-income students here and not giving them resources to fully participate in things that other students may consider defining parts of our University, are we not doing them a disservice?

Contact the author: spieziok17@mail.wlu.edu