I applied for a scholarship for #Wikimania for the 25th anniversary of #Wikipedia. After a lengthy wait I got a boilerplate email starting with "Dear N/A" saying I was on the waiting list, and would be updated within 2 weeks. After 2 weeks with no updates I sent a message asking for information. Today I got another boilerplate email addressed to "N/A" saying that I hadn't gotten the scholarship.
I'm not upset about the decision, I'm upset about the messaging. I sent a response saying so:
1/2
"Thanks for the update. I ask that in the future, that you improve communications with scholarship applicants so that we 1. Get more timely responses, and 2. Are correctly addressed by our actual names. I realize you are all busy and also volunteers as I am, but this kind of thing is dehumanizing and depressing at a time I'm already feeling invisible.
Sincerely,
- Pax Ahimsa Gethen, aka Funcrunch. Not 'N/A'."
2/2
Just received this response:
"Dear Pax Ahimsa Gethen,
We deeply apologize for this oversight. We understand this unacceptable and we won't make any excuse for this. We will recheck carefully before we send any communication means in the future.
Best,
Wikimania 2026 Core Organizing Team
"
Meh. At least they apologized.
Looking at a copy of my application, I'm guessing it might have come from the section on usernames; I don't have any alternate or abandoned usernames, so answered "N/A" to those questions.
Pax Ahimsa Gethen
Ben Rosengart
Lodewijk