Sociologists have a hard time defining social class, she says. A person’s class takes into account tangible factors, such as income, as well as less concrete factors, such as prestige. Some sociologists argue that social classes don’t affect a person’s life, but Lee does not agree with this view. “I think it’s absolutely silly to think that there aren’t classes in America,” she says.
Social class can shape everything from the way people speak to how they style their hair to how they relax on the weekends, Lee says. These types of things affect how people relate to one another, and it’s hard to form relationships if there is a lack of common experiences.

Senior architecture major Eric Spitzer says his group of friends at Kent State includes people from all kinds of backgrounds, and they get along fine. But his days growing up in Bath were not as easy. “It was harder to fit in. Everyone thought before they got to know me,” Spitzer says, pausing. “They thought I was a stuck-up, spoiled rich kid. They knew the name. They didn’t know me.”

Spitzer’s family owns Spitzer Autoworld. The dealerships have been an Ohio institution since 1904, when Henry Ford asked Spitzer’s great-grandfather to show one of the first cars in his store. Even though his high school, Revere, was filled with “rich kids,” Spitzer says they still looked at him differently.

“I’ve had people date me because of it,” he says. “I’ve had people be friends with me because they wanted stuff.” Spitzer says he broke up with one girlfriend after almost two years because he learned she was dating him for his money.

This was hard for Spitzer to understand because he says he doesn’t fit the upper-class stereotype. His idea of someone rich is somebody who flaunts what he or she has, and while Spitzer likes nice things, they don’t dictate who he hangs out with or how he acts. Spitzer is reserved when talking about his background and money. “My parents had money and everything, but they taught us not to live by it,” he says.

Having money does make some things easier. Spitzer’s family paid for his education at Kent State, even though he wants to leave the family business after graduation and work in architecture. Spitzer already has run one business, a handicapped-care provider called Open Arms. Although he still volunteers in the area, Spitzer sold the business to a friend about six months ago, so he could focus on school.

But for students like Chaffin, affording college is not so easy. Until she was about 8 years old, Chaffin says she lived a typical life: a paid-off house, two cars, a dad and a stay-at-home mom. Then one day after church, the family came home to see her dad’s car pulling out of the driveway.

“All his stuff was gone except a pillow and a T-shirt,” she says.

Since her father had supported the family, it had not been a problem that Chaffin’s mom lacked skills for the work force, she says. After he left, life became harder. The family went from place to place, living in the car, crashing at shelters or friends’ homes. They even spent a few nights on the gymnastics mats in the studio where Chaffin danced. “We went on welfare, the whole food stamp deal,” Chaffin says, “because if we didn’t, we’d be starving.”