Chris Tillen, Contributing Photographer

The Trumbull buttery began paying its 16-student staff for the first time this semester, following a shift in the College’s leadership. Buttery workers told the News that the pay introduction has quickly resulted in a fuller staff and a busier buttery this semester.

Last year, Trumbull College was the only residential college with a fully volunteer-based buttery staff. The College paid student buttery managers, but all students working regular shifts were unpaid. Going into the 2023-2024 school year, following the arrival of Head of Trumbull College Fahmeed Hyder on July 1, the Trumbull buttery has shifted to paying workers. 

“I discovered that buttery students weren’t getting paid … I felt that was rather odd,” Hyder said of the change. “It was a mutual thing. We all felt that Trumbull, if possible, should do this sooner rather than later.”

Upon starting as Trumbull’s head of college — following the departure of Margaret Clark — Hyder met with students in order to understand their needs throughout the summer. 

Among other issues, students frequently brought up buttery pay. 

Hyder emphasized that the in-person complaints he received from students came from both buttery workers and non-buttery workers. He also noted these complaints came early and often, and he underscored the merits of open communication. 

When asked why Trumbull had previously used the volunteer model, Hyder noted that it was a Trumbull “tradition” before he became Head. 

“I can’t speak to the tradition of why one college behaved differently than another, but I’m glad that we resolved it,” said Hyder. 

Hyder and the Trumbull Head of College’s Office began to explore reallocating the College’s budget in order to ensure that buttery workers could get paid without sacrificing other student needs. Ultimately, when the buttery opened this fall semester, these efforts were successful. 

Trumbull buttery student manager Devon Rall-Taguchi ’25 has been involved with the Trumbull Buttery since she was a first year. She was a volunteer that year and then a paid manager starting her sophomore year. 

When asked by the News about advocating for payment in the past, Rall-Taguchi said previous efforts had proved fruitless.

“I tried multiple times,” Rall-Taguchi said. “I tried with the Trumbull office and asked if we could possibly pay our workers and every time it was kind of a dead no.” 

Rall-Taguchi told the News that managers before her had also pushed for student payment. She also said that Head Hyder has been “absolutely amazing” this year and receptive to changing the policy. 

Rall-Taguchi further said that it was difficult for the buttery to keep shifts fully staffed when operating on a volunteer basis. In the past, the Trumbull buttery often needed to close early on account of these staffing inconsistencies. Moreover, many people would want to volunteer for the same shift, leaving others unstaffed. 

“The thing with it being paid is there’s more repercussions for your job … there’s a higher sense of accountability that comes with it,” said Rall-Taguchi. 

She added, however, that a benefit of the volunteer-based policy was that people could work with their friends if they wanted to. Now, with a set schedule for payment, workers are paired randomly in order to ensure shifts are equally covered.  

She told the News in summary, though, that “[finances and worker compensation] should be universal across all colleges.”

Residential colleges are individually empowered to determine buttery worker compensation. 

Head of Morse College and Chair of the Residential College Council Catherine Panter-Brick noted, too, that there has not been an official agenda item on buttery pay discussed among the residential colleges.

“We know our crew works hard to put out a lot of food and keep the social aspect of late night active,” Panter-Brick said. “At Morse, we have always paid these positions to compensate for the work done for the college.”

Astou Nkouyate ’26 began working at the Trumbull buttery this year. Nkouyate said that, when applying for the position, she wanted to get to know the people in Trumbull and engage with its community. But Nkouyate added that she probably would not “have done it at all if [the position] wasn’t paid.” 

Nkouyate noted that she did not see the Trumbull buttery open very often last year, and the space has been busier this year. 

Ian Hughes ’25 also began working at the Trumbull buttery this year, an experience that he said has been enjoyable and “not super difficult.”

When asked by the News about the payment policy change, Hughes responded that he thinks it has been positive, adding that he “didn’t really understand why Trumbull [had been] the one outlier” among residential colleges.

Students from other residential colleges voiced similar opinions on the import of paying buttery workers.

“The fact that Trumbull buttery workers were not paid is crazy to me because, in our buttery, we talk about how we are being underpaid,” said Pia Baldwin Edwards ’25, who works in the Saybrook buttery. Baldwin Edwards noted the difficulty of working in food service and the late hours of buttery shifts. 

She added that she enjoys being a Saybrook buttery worker and called the role a “prized position.” When asked if she would do the job as a volunteer, though, Baldwin Edwards responded, “Honestly, probably not.” 

Currently, no other residential college operates on a purely volunteer basis; Timothy Dwight College operates on a hybrid model, in which buttery workers are volunteers for their first semester and then paid for subsequent semesters. 

Samara Davis ’27 is currently volunteering in her first semester at the Timothy Dwight buttery. Davis emphasized that she enjoys the culture and community of working at the buttery and is glad she took the job. But she voiced concerns on the College’s payment policy. 

“It’s a little off-putting,” Davis said. “I’d say most people would probably not want to do a full semester unpaid.” 

The Trumbull buttery is open Monday through Thursday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Correction, Nov. 11: An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled Head of Morse College Catherine Panter-Brick’s name.