Student-organized meeting focuses on communication, clarity

Fabian Arzuaga Staff Writer

On Thursday, March 31, a gathering of 22 “concerned student peers” met in the Villard Room to reflect upon and critique the Feb. 24 Town Meeting with Dean of the College J.J. Jackson.

Of these 22 students, there were four Vassar Student Association (VSA) council members, five reporters and editors from The Miscellany News, a Dean of the College Student Assistant, and the Cushing House Intern. Three students ran the meeting. The remaining eight people were present as student participants.

Organizers were interested in creating a list of topics for discussion in future meetings with Jackson. Issues included campus life, race relations, drug and alcohol policies, and the role of the VSA and other committees in policy changing.

The organizers, Federico Delgado ’06, Luke Hayes ’05, and Senadhi Parakrama ’05, aimed to create a better strategy to engage administrators about controversial issues.

“We’d like to produce a document of concerns, issues, and ideas, so that administrators would be prepared for the next meeting,” said Delgado.

Delgado also stressed the importance of a more organized dialogue. “We don’t have the luxury to fire off things that first come to mind,” he said.

Although the participants expressed a range of specific concerns, all agreed that the principle goal was better communcation between the offices in Main Building and the student body.

While some suggested the creation of a web-forum where concerned students could post questions for administrators to answer, others argued for more effective VSA communication of administrative decisions. VSA President Joe Wildfire ’05 said that the VSA has taken an active role in re-evaluating the effectiveness of student committees.

“The committees need to be functional, as we already have a system in place to make student voices heard,” said Wildfire.

Aiming to “increase transparency,” Wildfire said the VSA will publish and distribute a four-page booklet with information on current officers and their committees.

Student Assistant to Jackson Becca Kirlin ’05 was also on hand to ferry concerns from students to the Dean. Kirlin said that Jackson is looking to have smaller, more topical discussions with other administrators and concerned students.

“[J.J.] doesn’t want another big Town Meeting,” said Kirlin. “She got scapegoated [during the Feb. 24 meeting].”

Others felt that the administrators are not effectively consulting the students about policy changes and financial problems.

“Things have been changing without our voice,” said Parakrama. “There clearly is a financial issue. If there are problems, we can help to work those out. We are not stupid.”

Wildfire also expressed concern about the impact of student input. “I'm disappointed, honestly, with how committees are being run this year,” said Wildfire. “It's not just this year, I think its been a growing problem...There are policy-making committees out there, but we don't make policy...If I can't change that, I want the College to stop using that as a crutch to be able to say that we have student voice on these committees.”

Students were also concerned about the perceived increase in class size and the decrease in the number of classes being offered. According to his sources, Wildfire said classes that have had five or less students each semester are the only ones being eliminated.

Wildfire also said that after the Class of 2005 graduates, the College will have about 100 fewer students overall. The Class of 2009 is anticipated to be a more normal-sized Vassar class.

The meeting lasted for approximately an hour. The final topic of discussion was the controversy surrounding the rumored dismissal of Associate Dean of the College and Head of Campus Life Ed Pittman.

Kirlin said that the reversal of the decision to eliminate Pittman’s position was not based solely on student voice. She said that the faculty and staff members who spoke up for Pittman were integral to his retention.

Students pressed Kirlin on this statement, and asked if that meant student voice meant nothing to Jackson. Wildfire noted the fact that students do not have a say in the firing of College employees.
Despite small turnout, Parakrama was pleased with the result of the meeting.

“I was hoping for more attendance, but the smal lattendance allowed for better conversation than just one person with a microphone,” he said. “I’m hoping this meeting will help both students and administrators, instead of having one against the other. This will help them answer our questions and help us deliver those questions.”

Organizers directed the last ten meetings of the meeting back to forming a final list to submit to Jackson and circulated a paper for participants to write their names and e-mail addresses on. The concerns submitted to Jackson will be signed by the people on the list.

“We need to establish communication to get good information,” said Delgado.

Additional reporting by Anita Varma, News Editor.