As I was reading over the write-ins in the recent WSA election, I read one that stood out in particular: “WSA must make meaningful accomplishments over the next year to prove to the…”—at this point, the comment stopped, but I assume it would have continued “student body that it is a worthwhile institution.” The comment provides the opportunity to reflect—and to answer the question, “what sort of meaningful accomplishments has WSA made on behalf of the student body?”
The central plank of my platform when I ran for WSA President was that we would be more assertive with the administration. We have been. WSA compiled an extensive laundry list of accomplishments that I discussed in a Wespeak on April 13 (more financial aid, a shuttle to New Haven, an appeals process for damages fines, New York Times Readership program, new dining plan, etc.) We proposed an agenda back in the fall, and came through on almost every point.
More critically, though, WSA has expanded its structural power in unprecedented ways. We now collaborate with the faculty leadership on issues of mutual importance for students and faculty. This opens new channels of communication that will improve the Wesleyan experience as a whole for students. Furthermore, we now provide feedback on the University budgeting process, which offers yet another venue for student voice to be heard at the highest levels of the administration.
You may not agree with the issues we have championed this year. But it is no exaggeration to say that WSA has more lobbying power on behalf of students than it has at any time in recent memory. This makes it all the more crucial that WSA members are out in the community, listening to your opinions, and talking about what’s going on. It also means that if you don’t like the direction that the University is headed, WSA is an extraordinarily effective way to precipitate change.
I think that these are meaningful accomplishments for the student body. But the long-term effects of what has happened this year depends on who stands up to fight for their beliefs at Wesleyan in the future. I can unequivocally say that students of color are not represented well enough on this campus, and that is partly a failure of the WSA. If we do not persistently stand up to fix this, it will never change. Next year, demand that the WSA’s student power be put to the many important but unfulfilled needs of the student body.
Leave a Reply