Package of protest: Student mails peanut butter and jam sandwich to MUN's Noreen Golfman

A student in Montreal is hoping a MUN administrator will adjust her attitudeafter she receives the peanut butter sandwich he sent her in the mail.

John Hutton saw comments onsocial media made by MUN vice-president (academic) NoreenGolfmanlast week, defending how much Memorial University of Newfoundland spends on dinners and other events for prospectivefaculty members.

During an interview, Golfman argued that any "corporate" environment has to provide quality meals to those who are coming to check out their possible future workplace, saying"it's part of the professional face you put on the university."

It was really a way to make a statement that the attitude is not acceptable and just out of touch.- John Hutton

"We have candidates, high-level researchers who come in here," she said.

"We're not feeding them peanut butter sandwiches, we are doing what professionals do."

An outrageous statement

Huttonsaid he thought Golfman'scommentswere insensitive given the fact that many students are actually living in poverty andsurvive on cheap food such as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Kraft Dinner and ramen noodles.

Hutton felt the remarks were glib and out of touch, so he decided to slap some peanut butter and jam on bread andput it in a bubble wrapped envelopeas per Canada Post guidelines.

He includeda picture of Marie Antoinette, the former Queen of France who famously declared, "let them eat cake" prior tothe revolution that ended with her head in a basket.

"I thought that was a really outrageous statement to be making to students if they're proposing pretty substantial fee hikes as they're wining and dining themselves at $700 a pop," Hutton told CBC'sSt. John's Morning Show.

"I think [MUN] is an inspiration for people across the country that actually want to see education be accessible for everybody."

Lobster for your PB & J?

Along with the sandwich and and the picture of Marie Antoinette, Hutton also includeda letter he wrote to Golfmanin the package.

In it, he brought up an anecdote about how decades ago in outport Newfoundland, lobster was considered food for the poor, and school-age kids would often try totrade their lobster sandwiches for thepeanut butter and jelly sandwiches brought by richer kids.

He felt there was some interesting irony in Golfman's comments against the backdrop of that little bit of history.

"If you try and take university back to a time when university was just for the rich, you should also trade your lobster and your caviar for a peanut butter sandwich," he said.

"It was really a way to make a statement that the attitude is not acceptable and just out of touch."

Culture of spending

Hutton expects his package to arrive at Golfman's office sometime Monday, and hopesit will makeMUN administrators think twice about making insensitive commentsand perhaps swaythem in the direction of keeping the university's tuition low.

As a student who had to leave his home province of Nova Scotia because he couldn't afford the high tuition, Huttonwould like the story of his peanut butter sandwich to remindNewfoundlanders and Labradoriansaboutthe dangers of letting university administrators raisetuition fees in the name of staying competitive.

"The president of Memorial is making something upwards of $450,000 a year, and it's just getting higher and higher every year because they're just comparing themselves to each other," he said.

"These are public institutions, they're funded by the taxpayer and yes it's important to have well funded universities, because the public benefits from that but it's important for that money to go towards teaching, learning and research and not lavish administrative spending."