Having just watched the meeting at Crowell between President Bennet and several administrators and a crowd of students, faculty and community members, but overwhelmingly of students, and run by students, I feel we owe him an apology. I feel that the portions of the meeting in which students voiced their concerns were well-run, but that the latter portions in which Bennet was supposed to be given time to talk were unacceptable.
Consistently, the students running the forum showed that they were more interested in preaching to Bennet than in letting him speak. All that this sort of action, especially in a meeting ostensibly to foster dialogue, creates is hostility between the administration and students.
Now, don’t get me wrong. In terms of the issues involved, I am strongly with the students. I took part in the group action in President Bennet’s office hours on Tuesday. I have deep concerns about the lack of administrative transparency, have trouble understanding why some recent decisions have been made, (RIDE, the cancellation of off-campus housing, WESU, etc.), and strongly disagree with some of their policies. What I do not have, however, and do not see the use of, is a hostile attitude towards Doug Bennet and the Wesleyan administration. I feel that there are myriad student concerns that need to be addressed; I feel that students need to be more involved in the decision-making process when those decisions concern our lives and education; I feel that our elected voices in the WSA are not being heard; and I feel that even in those decisions in which the administration does not need to include students, they ought to be much more open about the courses they choose and the reasons behind those decisions. The current administration certainly has many views that are antithetical to students’ views, and this needs to be addressed, but I cannot believe that they are as hostile to us as they are being portrayed. I’m not suggesting that we do anything but press as hard as we can for the changes we want, but I am suggesting that we do so in a less one-sided manner.
I strongly support student action to rectify this situation. However, I cannot help but feel that the shrill tenor of some student facilitation of the meeting is unacceptable. Presenting Bennet with a yes/no list of issues and refusing to let him speak if he will not simply state yes or no to each is not dialogue; it is an oversimplification of complex issues.
We can, and should, vocally disagree with the administration when it is necessary. However, we must be willing to listen to their positions, and attempt to affect change through discussion, instead of through preaching.
If we take away the microphone when they try to give us their position instead of responding to needless manichean choices, we are hindering progress, not helping it. I support action, I support posturing, but not in spaces and times where the stated goal is discussion. All that that accomplishes is to put President Bennet on the defensive and make him less likely to agree to such discussions in the future.
Given the turnout at the meeting today, this is clearly an issue that is very important to a lot of the student body, me included. This is something that needs to be addressed adequately. It has certainly been made clear to President Bennet that he cannot simply dismiss student concerns. However, some of the student behavior at the meeting is simply not the correct way of reaching our goals. I don’t claim to know what exactly our plan of action should be, but I’m pretty sure that lecturing President Bennet instead of listening to his position should not be part of it. I am certainly not trying to take away anyone’s right to be heard.
There is nothing I support more. However, just as President Bennet has a responsibility to listen to us and to take us seriously, we have a responsibility to listen to him and to take him seriously, rather than dismissing what he has to say. I suggest simply that we try a little harder to talk to him, not at him. This is by no means a one-way street, but we have to do our part.
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