Writing this Wespeak in the middle of election week might be perceived as a political tactic or as a move to discredit certain candidates. However this Wespeak is, in fact, an attempt to provide a fair and honest depiction of the WSA’s work over this past year.
Many candidates, both incumbents and newcomers, have chosen to vilify the WSA and to misrepresent its actions. Furthermore, where these candidates have found themselves unable to deny the efficacy of actions taken by the WSA over the past year, they have chosen to misappropriate the credit for these various programs and initiatives. Or perhaps, some of these candidates have failed to keep themselves informed of the WSA’s actions, as they are now making proposals that the WSA is currently working on, or has finalized work on.
Two of the most egregious examples of this trend are those campaigns that have based their platforms on issues of dining or transportation. We are all aware of the deficiencies in Wesleyan’s dining services. The WSA, most notably Zelda Ferguson ’06, Max Ornstein ’09, and the Dining Committee, have therefore drafted the “Concept of Dining,” which defines student demands for the new Usdan Campus Center, and which will provide the basis for writing the new dining services contract. This document reconciles student dining needs with the realistic capabilities of a dining services provider. The “Concept of Dining” has been finalized and is currently being used to plan the future of dining at Wesleyan.
A second campaign issue that is misleading is the promise of providing an off-campus shuttle. As you may have noticed on the voting website (www.wesleyan.edu/wsa/voting), there is currently a survey soliciting student input for a WSA initiative spearheaded by Estrella Lopez ’07 and Zach Blau ’09. The WSA has been working throughout the semester to make it possible for Wesleyan to provide shuttle service off campus. Although this campaign promise has been made for years, it is only recently that the WSA has engaged the administration in discussions regarding this issue. Zach and Estrella hope to present a proposal by the end of this year.
I have been troubled by the character of the rhetoric employed by many campaigns, including, but certainly not limited to, the campaign for president. I am sure that many will seek to deny these facts, but I am hopeful that the student body is capable of discerning the realities of student governance on campus from empty campaign promises.
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