At least 30 students opened their copies of the Calyx yearbook for the 2017-18 school year during winter break to find their portraits and names were left out.

Kate Flory, ‘21, who was this year’s Calyx editor, is one of them. Flory said when last year’s editor, Hannah Powell, ‘18, sent her the proof of the yearbook at the end of the summer, she raised her concern about students being left out. 

“I was just upset about it because I’m not even in the yearbook and I worked on it,” Flory said. “It’s embarrassing honestly.” 

Powell told her it was too late to fix in time for the usual September release, she said. But this year, students didn’t receive their yearbooks until winter break. Powell said this was because of unrelated, last-minute changes.

This isn’t the first time a significant number of students have been excluded. Two years ago, 67 independent students were excluded from the yearbook.

“Many students have been left out of the Calyx for years, and each year it is a huge frustration and disappointment,” Powell said in an email. “This is not any one’s person’s fault, but rather a symptom of an organization that is barely holding on.” 

She blamed understaffing and a lack of compensation.

When Jenna Marvet, ‘21, saw she was left out of the yearbook, she wondered if her lack of affiliation with a Greek organization had something to do with it. She emailed Flory and Dean of Students Sidney Evans during the break, asking for a refund. The university automatically charges every student 80 dollars for Calyx each academic year. 

“It is a shame that there has been such a blatant oversight that undermines independent legitimacy within our community,” she said in her email to Flory and Evans.

But it wasn’t just independent students who were left out. Flory said the class of 2021 pledge classes of Lambda Chi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Order fraternities were also left out. She’s still working on an official head count for everyone who wasn’t included.

Marvet said she was promised a refund for all excluded students by Associate Dean of Students Tammi Simpson, who oversees the Calyx publication, though isn’t an advisor. Simpson declined to comment.

Flory said she’d prioritize the representation of independent students in this year’s Calyx, both in terms of portraits and student organizations. She also plans to add on more staff members to decrease the risk of it happening again.

Marvet was refunded the $80 fee, and any student excluded can do the same by emailing Flory at [email protected] or Simpson at [email protected].

Hannah Denham contributed to this story.