WSA Speaks

In the past, the WSA has not served as the most effective link between the Board of Trustees and the students. This year, we intend to change that. During Trustee meetings, eight WSA members have the opportunity to speak and to serve on the Board’s various committees. We attempt to use this opportunity to communicate the concerns that we hear from the student body, and we persistently inform the Board of the pulse of student life and its importance. In Trustee meetings over the past two years, WSA members have stepped up their participation, expressing themselves clearly and frequently on a variety of hot-button student issues.

First of all, we have attempted to clarify the relative importance of new buildings on campus in relation to improvements (or lack thereof) in student life. We have emphasized that the most important issues for students are related to quality of life, and that the diversity of our faculty remains of great interest and necessity to the student body. Second, we have highlighted the moral importance, national significance, and economic efficiency of building environmentally friendly buildings over the last several years. The new University Center embodies this desire, and we hope that the new Life Sciences Building will be even better. Finally, we made a powerful case last year that academic advising remains out of line with student needs, and the Trustees were very receptive. In these instances, we communicated the viewpoints of those individuals and student groups that reached out to us. As your representatives, we want, to the best our ability, to communicate your concerns to the Trustees. With the November Trustee meeting approaching, you have another opportunity to share your opinions.

It is also our responsibility to provide an open report on each Board meeting. I presented our report on the September retreat a couple of weeks ago in an open WSA meeting (WSA meetings are always open, with full voice for every student). It was also made available in last Tuesday’s Argus. On the off chance that you didn’t take the opportunity to read it, please allow me to comment on several points. The report mentions that, “large projects for the future, including the construction of a new molecular life sciences building to replace Hall-Atwater, a University Museum, a renovated Davenport, as well as the future of wood frame houses were discussed.” The most significant issue in this sentence for student advocacy is the future of the wood frame houses. The Trustees are concerned about the woodframes’ financial impact on the University. Many woodframes are in terrible condition and cost thousands of dollars to maintain every year. Some of these are nearly below institutional standards of living. The future of the woodframe houses has been an issue for years, and will continue to be so until either all of them are repaired (at huge cost) or replaced (at huge cost). Many students, myself included, feel strongly that the woodframes are an important part of not only the student experience, but also of Wesleyan’s identity and its mission. As students, we must strive to insure the rescue or replacement of woodframes on campus by cooperative planning with Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees. Our cause will be furthered not by emotional appeals to the goodwill of the Trustees, but by clearly formulated descriptions of their importance to campus life. If we express our ideas in a constructive manner, we can make progress on this issue.

The Trustees will be on campus from Nov. 17 to 18. Please plan on attending the student-trustee gathering (from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Zelnick Pavilion on Friday, Nov. 17) in order to express yourselves. You can always use the WSA as a resource. Whether we hear from non-WSA students or not, we will articulate student concerns to the best of our abilities. Our capacity to do so will be greatly increased by receiving more feedback from non-WSA students. The student representatives to the Board of Trustees are myself, Nishita Roy ’07, Whitney Matthews ’07, Estrella Lopez ’07, Annie Fox ’07, Nicole Ippoliti ’09, Sam Ruth ’08, and Brittany Mitchell ’07. You can speak to any one of us in person, or direct email inquiries to Brittany (bm*******@******an.edu). I am aware that students often lament about being unable to communicate their concerns to the Board. This view is simply false. The WSA is very vocal at Board meetings, and we want to communicate your ideas to the Trustees. Please help us do that.