The Admin? Who's That?

Anybody understands that fine line between stepping on someone's toes to get what you want and when you've gone too far. I think this past year, I have had a working relationship with the administration so I have gained their respect. A lot of the times however, I have pushed for the students and have received very little support from the administration. A specific example is the new Health Services initiative. I have been in meetings where I have voiced my concerns and have felt that they weren't heard, so I set up individual meetings with Dean Lepore and Kris Niendorf to discuss how I felt and what they were going to do to respond to recent student concerns. They have told me just as they have told the rest of the student body that they are planning on going ahead with this plan even though the majority of the student body opposes it. I have challenged the Interim Deans, but plan on continuing this discussion with Debra DeMeis when she arrives to Wellesley, to ensure that this is a student-led initiative and not just another example of the admin making decisions FOR us.

I have continuously pushed for the students and I will always do my best to make sure that that trust is never compromised, with both the admin and the student body. Secondly, as Sec/Treas this past year, I have received emails from certain administrators asking me to reword publications, either on my spam or my minutes, to make it much more "acceptable for the student body." After receiving these unwarranted requests, I thought to myself, "How can they tell us what is acceptable for the student body and what isn't?" This was just another attempt to sugar-coat everything and to make sure that nothing would offend anybody or cause a stir among the student body. But what's wrong with telling students like it is? Absolutely nothing. That is our duty as CG, as representatives or liaisons to the student body. We need to be straight-forward and honest with everyone we communicate with, so I chose to ignore their requests and to type my minutes verbatim and not to accommodate their "special wording."

I think that I have chosen my battles wisely and hopefully, as your next College Government President, I will individually base that decision upon personal and student concerns, all through consultation with Unity and Cabinet members and other student leaders on campus.