WSA has tried to be accessible

Open Letter to the Editorial Board of the Argus and the student body:

I am writing in response to the Editorial in the Argus of Tuesday, April 27th as well as in solicitation of advice. As President of the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) this year, I am truly interested in making myself and the Assembly more accessible.

The WSA has tried to engage the campus by initiating email updates to the campus as well as a Presidential Office Hour every week in the Campus Center on Wednesdays at noon. In addition the Educational Policy and Dining Committees conducted successful surveys to collect student opinion on critical issues both through tabling and emails.

We also submit WSA updates and agendas to the Argus for every issue. Unfortunately, it seems that Argus does not always have the space or desire to publish these items that would only serve to facilitate the campus dialogue that it seeks.

Clearly, however, our efforts are insufficient. Students are still misinformed or unaware of certain campus issues and the WSA’s efforts to advocate for students. We don’t put in hours of work to hide it from everyone. We obviously care about the state of the University and would love to hear the opinions of students who are willing to share.

In fact a number of the committees that we work on have non-WSA students on board, including the Dining Committee, the Undergraduate Residential Life Committee, Students of Color Perspectives and Action, subcommittees of the Campus Auxiliary and Facility Services Advisory Committee, the Alcohol and Other Drug Task Force, the Queer Task Force, the Career Resources Advisory Committee, the Information Technology Advisory Committee, the Library Advisory Committee, and the Office of Behavioral Health Advisory Committee.

Due to the Presidential Debate’s sparing publicity, I will take responsibility for its poor attendance. It was definitely our fault, however, in a) trying to coordinate the schedules of the four initial candidates, b) attempting to be mindful of the Buttstock and Earth Day celebrations, and c) being respectful of the March for Women’s Lives, scheduling was complicated. Publicity, thus, had to be deferred until a time was agreed upon. Furthermore, our access to the all-campus list is not without stipulation. Our e-mails have to go through the Dean’s Office, which results in unavoidable delays.

All this is to say, we’re trying and if you have ideas on how we can do better we’d love to hear them. I know it’s the end of the year, but this is a perennial problem and your suggestions could only help us in the future. You can email us at WS*@******an.edu or me directly at sp**********@******an.edu.