Just to bring everyone up to speed, here’s what has happened so far. The student body, or about a tenth of us anyway, got really pissed off, marched in the rain, and blocked Doug Bennet in his office. Then, a forum for discussion was organized for a few days later in Crowell, and students took advantage of this opportunity by taking turns yelling at ol’ Dougie B. Throughout this whole ordeal, I kept wondering to myself how these conflicts might be resolved more peacefully and constructively. I thought, if only there was some organization that was designed to serve as an intermediary between the students and Administration, where a group of elected student representatives could talk with…oh my God! The WSA!
Whatever happened to them? Isn’t it supposed to be their job to serve as a liaison between us and Bennet, finding out from us what we want and working with the Administration to make it happen? I mean, if they were doing their jobs right, wouldn’t we all feel satisfied that our voices were being heard and communicated to Bennet?
Well, I’m sure that after this end-of-the-semester mess, the WSA would take decisive action, working quickly to mend its flawed relationship with the students and, oh, what’s this? I’m looking on the WSA website, www.wesleyan.edu/wsa, and I see that on Dec. 13, 2004, the WSA made an official statement saying in part that “WSA members may use their experience and knowledge as WSA members without playing a representative role in planning this forum”.
Also, “The administration must be accountable to all students, not just the students in the WSA.” Well great. Way to go, dipshits. Instead of addressing the real problem, the breakdown of communication between students and the WSA, you just relinquished all of your power to act as representatives of the student body.
When confronted with the fact that students don’t consider you to be representative of their voice, you just gave up and rolled over. Well that’s fine with me. Rest in Peace, WSA. Now all we have to do is find some people who actually feel like acting like real leaders.
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