Upholding our civic duty entails constructive, active participation in the service of positive goals. In a system such as that of our national government, it is nearly impossible for an individual to influence the policymaking agenda.
In such a political structure, then, voicing one’s opinion through editorials takes on a vital role as an expression of public sentiment and a directive to those with the power to realize that charge. Our Wesleyan system, however, is one of readily available, direct access to those with the ability to take formal action. To actually achieve our goals with regards to policy here on campus, we who care must seize the opportunity to act in concert with this resource, rather than merely make them known by bemoaning one’s belief of their incompletion.
It is unfortunate that passionate people such as Bea Lake choose to write incendiary, misrepresentative Wespeaks instead of using that drive for the betterment of all. Those who take the initiative find the Student Assembly is Wesleyan’s most efficient and effective means for improving our community. Ours is not a perfect body, but it is quite receptive to merited ideas and actions.
Among these merited ideas is the demand for gender sensitive housing, which, as Bea Lake noted, is overwhelmingly supported by our student body. Contrary to claims otherwise, members of the WSA in union with the Queer Task Force, have worked (and continue to) work vigilantly through the Undergraduate Residential Life Committee to meet the needs and expectations of students of all gender/sexual identities. Last semester, these student efforts culminated in President Bennet’s landmark decision to allow students of different biological sexes to live together; these housing assignments will be determined by the Office of Residential Life on a case by case basis. Because of the efforts of its dedicated students, Wesleyan is on the forefront of all academic institutions with regards to gender sensitive housing policy.
It is through thoughtfully fulfilling our responsibility as the primary advocate of the student body that the WSA can boast of marked accomplishments in gender sensitive housing and on many more issues, among them dining, course registration, and the prevention of the Traverse Square fence. As evidenced by our actions, our relationship and commitment to the student body is anything but token. And as representatives who dedicate our free time to the service of the student populace, we resent any statement questioning our devotion to Wesleyan and the people in it. We pledge our efforts to the Assembly because we wish to raise the standard of all aspects of life on campus, and we believe that actions are more useful than words in getting to that end.
Put simply, the WSA would accomplish nothing if it allowed itself to get dragged into petty semantic debates. And as such, an apology should have never been extended for the use of the term “pimpology” in the subject line of one of our weekly informational emails. The Assembly works very hard to raise the quality of living at our school, and all we ask for is occasional input on issues that Wesleyan students care about. However, if one would rather focus their comments on a clearly inoffensive word that was used in an attempt to keep the student body engaged and informed, then we should recognize them for what they are- a distraction, and nothing more. From this point forward, we should not listen any longer.
Leave a Reply