The University of Pennsylvania is currently a dry campus, much to the dismay of its students. The decision was made unilaterally, and with no student input. The declaration and the manner in which it was delivered outraged most students, and as a result a rally was held which more than 1,000 Penn students attended.
Sound familiar? It is, if one important detail is overlooked. The rally was organized by their Undergraduate Assembly. Their student representative group has taken a leading role as advocate for the opinion of the student majority, something that the Student Assembly here at Dartmouth has failed to do since the announcement of the trustees' initiative. Not surprising, when we consider the fact that it was the Student Assembly that voted last spring to lock the dorm doors on campus, against the wishes of more than 70 percent of the student body.
True, they have organized forums for discussion about the initiative. They have also been lobbying, and rightly so, for more student representation in the College decisions that affect our lives. But what good is more representation when the current "voice of the student body" does not advocate for the position of an overwhelming percentage of the Dartmouth student body?
The issue is not whether the Greek houses should stay or go. Even if the SA agrees the Greek organizations on campus need to go, they still should have condemned the announcement simply because the vast majority of students are against it. A student representative body is supposed to represent student interests and student opinion, especially in a case where the opinion of the student body has been made so abundantly clear.
When this initiative was announced, the Student Assembly decided that it wasn't appropriate to take a stand on the issue, and that the Greeks and their supporters could handle it themselves. Perhaps they were forgetting that their constituency is the student body, including the Greeks and their supporters.
It is sad that Dartmouth students were not able to voice their concerns through their representative body, even if they found other venues in which they could express their anger and frustration. Perhaps it is time that the Student Assembly reevaluate how it goes about representing Dartmouth students.
Or perhaps it is time that Dartmouth students reevaluate how they elect their representative body.
