I don't understand why students attack other students. Maybe I never will. Do people get a satisfaction out of criticizing the Student Assembly? The Dartmouth Editorial Board certainly does, as was reflected in yesterday's house editorial.
SA is the perfect target -- one anonymous group that you can blame your troubles on. But SA is not an anonymous group. We don't come together on Tuesday nights because we think we're self-important. We don't do it for our egos. We do it because we care about Dartmouth and we want to spend our time making the school better. And this commitment comes with a certain amount of accountability. When we mess up, I expect to see some angry editorials. But I wish that people, and by that I especially mean The Dartmouth Editorial Board, actually took the time to become informed before so viciously attacking SA. It's very easy to say "SA sucks." It's not so easy to take the time and find out everything that's going on around you.
The Dartmouth editors: SA didn't respond to the recent rallies because we've been responding to them all year long. Of the many demands issued at the Parkhurst protest, all but two are ongoing SA projects. It was all laid out in a one page document that was given to a reporter from The Dartmouth. For some reason that was never printed, or acknowledged in your editorial or articles about the protest. Hmm, I wonder why.
SA held four summits on Student Involvement in decision making with Trustees, faculty and administrators. I don't see The Dartmouth coming after us to find out what happened. The Dartmouth reports on what it wants to report on. This entire year SA has been discussing how it can change its membership and structure in order to be more representative and effective. When changes were finally made, The Dartmouth was curiously absent. The Dartmouth reports on what it wants to report on. College President James Wright has publicly stated that he has made student life a priority during his tenure because of the previous efforts of past Assemblies. I never saw that in The Dartmouth. The Dartmouth reports on what it wants to report on.
And would it really have been helpful for SA to have an official response to the Zeta Psi controversy? Just because The Dartmouth wants something they can write about, something controversial, doesn't mean it should happen. Taking an official stance isn't always the most effective thing to do. For instance, last night there was an open discussion organized by the World Cultures Initiative. SA cancelled its weekly meeting so that members could listen to what other students had to say and participate. It was a high enough priority for us that we put everything else on hold. Don't look for it in The Dartmouth; they didn't cover it.
And need I remind you, mighty Editorial Board, that all the stories you wrote about the Education Department this year came because the Student Assembly was proactive and handed you the story. You didn't discover that they were hiring new professors -- I flat out told you. The Dartmouth would not have known otherwise. And then The Dartmouth promptly forgot where it came from.
And then it struck me, who the hell cares what The Dartmouth says? They may criticize the Student Assembly for what we do in 101 Collis Commonground, but I know our 60 members are more in touch with this campus than the Editorial Board that lives in the second floor of Robinson and thinks that greater financial aid is the solution to all of Dartmouth's problems or that every story has something to do with the Greek System. It's real students I want to hear from. I want to be replying to them, not The Dartmouth. I know this year hasn't been perfect. And I want to hear what students think.
It's obvious to me that all The Dartmouth has to go on is stereotypes. They say that everyone knows that our "executives form useless committee after useless committee." What in the hell is The Dartmouth talking about? What committees? This year SA formed one group, the Student Involvement Council, so that students could meet with Trustees, administrators and faculty members and know the history of issues. It was a way to combat discontinuity. The way The Dartmouth talks, you'd think that we were making up committees left and right. We do appoint students to college-run committees, but that doesn't mean that they are created by us. I wonder how pointless you would think they were if SA stopped fighting to get student representation on them. Should we stop trying getting students involved?
Another example is when the President of The Dartmouth asks me, "Is SA going to do a resolution?" about any given issue or controversy. Mr. Ismail, I'll say it now as I've said it before and I'll probably have to tell you again, not everything SA does is in resolutions. Your ignorance about this is clearly reflected throughout your paper. In fact, resolutions play a very small part in what SA does day to day. Maybe if I say it publicly you'll actually begin listening.
"Change now," The Dartmouth says. How silly is that statement? Is The Dartmouth blaming SA for not being able to revamp Dartmouth in one year? Do you even go to school at Dartmouth or are all of you on permanent off-terms in The Dartmouth offices? You obviously don't understand how change happens at Dartmouth. You seem to think that simply saying the word "change" is meaningful. Well, it's not.
What is meaningful are the hours upon hours that are put into the process of change by students who care. The Student Assembly and the students I have gotten to know understand that and for the last four years have been living it out, each year building on the previous, fighting for greater student voice and improvements across campus life.
You're right. SA didn't revolutionize student voice in one year. We pushed hard, I made it my personal priority, many of us thought about it night and day, and yes, SA members even met with administrators. We fought hard on behalf of students and even though it wasn't up to your grandiose standards, we did make progress. And despite The Dartmouth's editorials and The Dartmouth's blatant lack of respect, the Student Assembly will keep on pushing ahead.
