Senate Concern Over Student Exclusion From Dialogue

To the Editors:

Student Senate would like to publicly express our concerns with the recent decisions to eliminate the 25 college intern positions. The inclusion of the four MRC Community Coordinator positions in this decision is especially troubling. While we understand that the decision to include the Community Coordinators was reversed, we would still like to express unease about the use of a decision-making process that lacked student voices, the top-down nature of the decision, and the administration’s lack of honest discussion with student leaders.
In this instance it is clear that all students were kept outside of the decision making process. Neither the President of the College, the Dean of Students nor any other member of the administration made any attempt to seek student input on changes that will drastically affect our experiences here. In fact, student senators were not properly informed or allowed to adequately represent students at the College Faculty meeting where the decision was first announced. The administration was initially uncooperative in allowing senate to represent students according to Oberlin College constitutional bylaws. Not only were student voices ignored, but there was also no attempt to seek input from any of the interns themselves, or from the offices which depend on their employment. In short, the people who will be most affected by these decisions were the ones most actively silenced or disregarded.
This signifies to us a significant breach of administrative confidence and trust in the student body. This college has continually referred to its past history of diversity and liberalism to draw students here stating, “Oberlin seeks a diverse and promising student body, Oberlin is dedicated to recruiting a culturally, economically, racially, and geographically student body.” Looking to this history and stated interest in multiculturalism, we feel it is crucial that those who are directly impacted by such changes be included in the decision-making process and that any conversations which result from such changes include students.
However, our concern also extends to the positions still being considered for termination. These positions, directly affecting the theater department, computer information technology, the athletic department, etc. are detrimental to specific constituencies on this campus. Though many departments have plans for restructuring and change, others do not. For example, the intern positions being released from the Athletic department will result in significant decreases in facility accessibility to the Oberlin community and a detrimental cut in coaching for student-athletes.
As representatives of the student body, Student Senate seeks to advocate for the concerns of students within the higher workings of this institution. In the ongoing conversation concerning further staffing changes and the future of the MRC, we feel that it is our right as members of the Oberlin community to have adequate input, clear information and open communication on all future decisions made by the College.
The lack of concern and regard for the consequences of such brash actions on the Oberlin community only undermine the efforts of those who have worked hard against all odds to make Oberlin a better place for all of us.

Student Senate
–Alaina Fotiu-Wojtowicz
College junior
–Andrena Hawkins
College first-year
–Arthur Bueno
College sophomore
–Behrad Mahdi
College sophomore
–Christine Harley
College junior
–Jesse Kanson-Benanav
College junior
–Kasi Chakravartula
College senior
–Leila Green
College junior
–Matthew Epstein
College junior
-Ni’Ja Whitson
College junior
–Nikhil Majumdar
College senior
–Pollyanna Berroa
College sophomore
–Rebecca Ganetzky
College sophomore
–Thomas Simchak
College junior
–Vivek Bharathan
College sophomore