Student Assembly has become defunct. Students have lost interest in the BBQs and T-shirt giveaways that SA has engineered to deal with serious campus issues.
A loss of legitimacy due to ineffective solutions has left the Student Assembly unable to effectively bargain with the administration. As a result, in recent years, students have had little say in the direction of the College.
Instead of formulating an unrealistic platform with vague goals designed to win votes, I did something that SA and its members have neglected to do: I sat down with over 50 campus leaders and asked them what issues they were facing, and how we could most effectively address them.
Together, with Men's Project members, SAPAs, 30 varsity sports captains and 14 Greek presidents, I worked to formulate realistic and effective solutions to address the real issues that students face.
Many students expressed their concerns about how some administrators do not follow their own protocol when dealing with survivors of sexual assault. Additionally, the education received by the class deans, their staffs and Safety and Security officers is insufficient. Education about the nature of sexual assault and how to best support survivors who choose to come forward, coupled with a push for a renewed commitment to follow administrative protocol are two common sense goals that we can achieve within a year.
Athletes were concerned with the poor state of athletic facilities on campus, as they hinder training and recruitment. Additionally, the various problems that arise because of athletes' occasional need to miss class for an event need to be addressed.
Establishing a "Friends of Dartmouth Athletics" fund to which alumni can directly donate would provide the necessary funding to fix Kresge, obtain lights for the tennis courts and improve many other dilapidated facilities on campus. That in addition to creating a fair protocol for how Professors should accommodate athletes who need to miss class for events are examples of practical solutions that we can achieve within a year.
Greek leaders expressed their concerns about the financial issues that many of their houses face on a term to term basis. They also worry about the current OAC guidelines which prescribe probation for minor offenses that do not warrant it.
Ending the unfair college policy of not permitting houses to see their own alumni lists would allow Greeks to tap into a vital source of outside funding. Since OAC is up for its three-year review, punishment guidelines for minor infractions such as keg violations and "messy front yards" can be reduced from probation to a fine. Both of these practical solutions are feasible within a year.
These are the real problems that students are facing on campus, and we can make strides to address them. Letting the Assembly squander its $65,000 budget, administrative connections and 50-person work force is unacceptable. Assembly insiders have squandered our resources for too long.
Let's put those resources to good use, and in the process take our school back.
