SLC meeting focuses on student government

Issues of communciation and relations discussed

Members of the Student Life Committee (SLC) met Wednesday for the first time this semester to determine the goals and activities the body will pursue this spring.

Faculty, students and administrators began questioning the SLC's role in campus decision making after last semester's historic election of student-faculty co-chairs Associate Professor of Politics Chris Howell and junior Chapin Benninghoff. Gloria White, associate dean of Academic Services, is the chair this semester.

The committee is composed of 15 student and faculty members. Its objective, according to White, is "to stay abreast of developments in Student Life, and to make suggestions and requests to faculty at any time."

The discussion at the meeting this week centered on student government and its ability to communicate with both faculty and other students. Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk was not at the meeting; she was sick.

"I get the impression that [the student government] is perceived by the larger student body as open and accessible, but that's irrelevant because it's also seen as a powerless entity," first-year Nathaniel Stankard, a student senator and SLC member, said.

According to White, a visiting accrediting committee in 1988 agreed with Stankard's perception, citing one of Oberlin's main problems as having a voiceless and fairly invisible student government. Senators and faculty involved with SLC want to address this issue before the return of the accrediting committee in March of next year.

"I think today's students don't realize how much power they really have,"Jane Armitage, chair of the Theater and Dance program, said. "They seem less confrontative than old students I've seen ... I keep wanting to tell them to get out there and fight for what they want."

Ken Holmes, associate dean of muliculturalism, said, "You do have students out there trying to make a difference, but they're on their own. Senate needs people who work with them but are linked to people who can make a difference."

Sophomore Chuckie Kamm, a senator and SLC member, said, "Senate is undergoing sort of an evolutionary process right now. Our recent meetings have been more destructive than constructive, since we've been trying to break apart old aspects of Senate and replace them with new, improved ones."

The meeting's discussion pinpointed facilitating better relations between student government members and faculty, as well as improving communications between senators and the student body, as two of SLC's main goals for this semester. Committee members are emphasizing the importance of delegating an increased amount of responsibility to students in the hopes that the General Faculty (GF) will begin taking the student government more seriously.

"If we're going to value the students' role in governing this college, we absolutely need to give them more responsibility," Associate dean of Student Life Bill Stackman said. "I really like the idea of the decision-making power being in the hands of the students as well as the staff."

Stackman, a new member of the College administration, acts as a staff liaison between SLC and Senate by attending both groups'meetings. Through his involvement he hopes to gain insight into the students' and staff's perspectives on various issues, such as faculty-student relations and the changing role of the student government in the College community.

Despite good intentions and lofty goals, the SLC now faces the challenge of finding the time to proceed with its agenda. Many members of the faculty are also working with multiple long-range planning committees, most of which will meet intensively through April.

Student Senator and SLC member Matthew Green, a junior, said, "I think the long-range planning committees are a great idea and it's wonderful that Nancy Dye wants to do this for the College - the only problem is that everyone becomes pressed for time and it's harder for SLC to meet as a group."