No one can say there wasn’t a visible and energetic campaign to elicit student participation in the various open forums with the Board of Trustees this past Friday and Sunday. Students were notified through emails from the WSA, from the Class Dean, from students on the Presidential Search Committee. There were painted signs in the Campus Center and flyers posted in every nook and cranny of the dorms. However, as usual, turnout to these presidential search forums remained noticeably low within a campus that is usually so vocal about having its voice heard by the administration.
It would be easy to point the finger again at student apathy, but perhaps pinpointing apathy as the problem is a misdiagnosis—one we may have made as well. Does apathy really explain why individual students don’t click the ‘Respond’ button and write a quick email to the representatives on the search committee?
Whether the issue is participation in the search for a new university president or participation in a national election, it is always a challenge to engage people. It is clear that appealing to individual students through flyers and campus-wide emails is not resulting in decent turnout at these presidential search forums. It could be time for those involved on the search committees to shift some of the emphasis away from engaging students on a one-on-one level to engaging student groups.
When students coalesce in groups, they do so around common interests, the amalgamation of which can serve as a snapshot of student perspectives on a range of issues. The elaboration of student group interests seems an established route to avoid individuals’ unwillingness to participate and instead solicit opinions from students who are already engaged.
Efforts have already been made to encourage student groups to give their input. Both the WSA and Presidential Search Committee should continue focusing their efforts away from those who, as individuals, click “delete” and move on to the next e-mail.
It is through direct contact with these organized groups that students can better organize and communicate specific agendas and interests to the Presidential Search Committee. Groups such as EON made a large impact during last semester’s open forum with the Board of Trustees, by showing up prepared and distributing brochures and flyers that addressed concerns about creating a more eco-friendly campus.
It is indeed difficult to elicit input from any population already preoccupied with the daily grind of daily life. But if interest groups in D.C. can effectively lobby their agendas, there is no reason why students can’t present their own issues in an organized manner within the context of their respective organizations.
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