GSAScholars#marriottstrike

UPDATE:  Thanks to the advocacy of some of our GSA members, some students have been given the opportunity to be re-assigned to volunteer at locations away from the Sheraton Boston. Student and emerging scholar volunteers should contact the GSA volunteer office for further details. In the meantime, we are keeping this GoFundMe page open to help fund other student and emerging scholar funding needs related to the strike. If there are any funds remaining in this account following the GSA conference, we will make a donation to an organization that will support gerontology students and emerging scholars.

The goal of this fund is to raise money to support students and emerging scholars who plan to attend the Gerontological Society of America (GSA.) conference who need additional funds due to the current Labor Strike by hotel workers at the Sheraton Boston. Currently, there is picketing taking place at the Sheraton Boston Hotel (39 Dalton Street), which is owned by the Marriott Corporation. There have also been some reports of demonstrations at or near the Marriott Copley Place, although hotel workers at this location are not currently involved with a strike action.  Students who have signed up as GSA volunteers in exchange for a waiver of registration are being told that if they do not agree to work at the currently picketed Sheraton Boston Hotel that their registration fee will be reinstated at the non early-bird rate ($202). Students who do not wish to stay at the Sheraton Boston or Marriott Copley Place hotels under these circumstances will need to make new hotel reservations, and the available hotels may involve higher costs than expected.

A current committee of faculty and student gerontology scholars will consider all student requests for funding due to the current strike action, including additional financial needs that emerge due to the strike that are not specified here.

Questions and requests for funding should be directed to Faith Hopp, [email redacted]