Most college students feel apathetic or even bitter toward their student governments, a Yale Daily News article recently reported.
Cari Tuna, author of last month's article, asserted that there is a disconnect between student governments and their peers. Tuna included the results of Yale polls and personal interviews with students at every Ivy League institution. The majority of students referenced in Yale's article feel that their student governments do not affect their daily lives, while most student leaders feel that students simply are not aware of all of their contributions.
The Yale Daily News article included a testimonial from John Tepperman '08, who told Tuna that Dartmouth students generally view Student Assembly negatively because campus press coverage focuses on petty bickering within the body.
"I commented that the Assembly's bickering jades many students because of the immature bickering and even resignation that takes place over issues such as, let's see, Jesus?" Tepperman said in reference to Student Body President Noah Riner '06's convocation speech last fall.
Tepperman added that the fixation on Riner's controversial speech, which made repeated religious references, overshadowed the Assembly's accomplishments.
"The nearly two months of op-eds and counter op-eds obsessing about Riner's speech disgusted many readers and led them to believe the Assembly could not accomplish anything under such a divisive environment," he said. "In reality, the Assembly did actually continue doing its job: sponsoring events, planning budgets, etc."
Riner also sees the Assembly as an organization that addresses many students' concerns.
"If you think about the hot issues on-campus, [the Assembly] is pretty much on top of them: club sports, class size, [Dartmouth Dining Services] changes," Riner said.
Michael Murov '07, a member of Agora and co-leader of its discussion last week concerning the Assembly, is less enthusiastic about student interest as well as about the abilities of the Assembly overall.
"We didn't have as many people show up to the meeting as I had hoped," Murov said. "My own personal feeling is that the Assembly has some really nice services and they do some nice things, but I wish that there was a more explicit student power. The students hold some sort of sway, but they don't have any real power."
Tepperman conceded that it is understandable for the media to highlight campus drama in their stories, but he felt that the drama played out in the Assembly last fall was unwarranted. He also said that campus media did not care to focus on the Assembly's less glamorous successes.
"Periodicals such as The Dartmouth could give more attention to the minor successes of the Assembly, and the Assembly could do a better job of communicating those smaller accomplishments," Tepperman said.
Student Assembly member and Student Services Committee leader Chris Bertrand '07 agreed with Tepperman's main points.
"I don't think there is much 'petty bickering' within the Assembly, though I know the press coverage sometimes implies that there is," Bertrand said.
Bertrand added that the Assembly is currently trying to bridge the gap between itself and its peers.
"I think communication has historically been the problem," he said. "We've started with advertisements in The Dartmouth, we've got a new website, we're distributing newsletters to every student next week via Hinman Boxes, and we participated in last Friday's Agora discussion."
