Posted: 02/07/07

Protest

Jake Dubuque | contributing columnist
jdubuque@smcvt.edu

For my last semester at St. Michael’s College, I find myself in a unique situation. This is my 30th column for the Echo and a common theme has long been identifying the strengths of the college and ways to improve the institution. Some have elicited passionate response, others have been largely ignored. Now I have been given the opportunity to advocate student issues from the position of secretary of academics. Being a member of the executive board of the Student Association and a columnist for the Echo would have been unthinkable last year, but that’s a testament to the changing dynamics of the S.A.

The Student Association has its own strengths and weaknesses to be sure. At its best, it’s a forum for students to take control of their St. Michael’s experience; to fund clubs as avenues for participating in our favorite interests, to provide traditions of entertainment like concerts, winter carnival and P-Day; and perhaps most importantly, to communicate our needs and desires to the administration, Sodexho, and Information Technology. Unfortunately for some, the S.A. has been seen as apathetic towards the issues most important to them. Rather than take their grievances with the administration to the Senate, these students feel only through protest can their voices be heard.

Perhaps that’s true. If the administration –- with the president in his 11th hour – has grown numb to students’ disquiet, then maybe the protest at noon on the steps of the library will reawaken their mission to work for the students of this college. There might be a strong desire to pass on these problems to the next president of the college, but maybe he should take note of who is organizing this rally: seniors. Despite the fact that these students will be leaving in a few months, they have become the spokespersons for student rights, rights that have gradually eroded away.

A protest may raise awareness, but it is not a solution, not even close. If we are serious about taking this campus back from the police, back from an overly restrictive student life office, then the issue must be addressed in a serious fashion. That’s why the S.A. is sponsoring an open forum to follow the rally. If it’s important to attend the rally, it’s even more important to attend the forum. For that’s where the constructive work will start; first identifying the problems and then working towards an acceptable solution.

The Student Rights Protest is going to address important issues. The administration cannot require students to live on campus all four years under the ever-more restrictive dictates of the “The Student Handbook.” If cinder blocks, hot tubs, and candles aren’t enough for the prohibited list, this year has seen the addition of exotic dancers, exterior Christmas lights, and now enforcing a ban on snow forts. Students of age are not allowed to possess alcohol in the room that they pay thousands of dollars to live in – for the arbitrary reason that there’s no kitchen. To top it all off, we returned this second semester to our private campus patrolled by four police cruisers.

The discussion of police on campus always returns to the law. Of course the police are doing their job – citing underage drinkers, just like they were only doing their job when they arrested Rosa Parks. This time the law discriminates not based on race, but age; who is to say that a 20-year-old is any less responsible than a 21-year-old? We are legally defined as an adult at 18 and charged with the responsibility to uphold the values of citizenship, but apparently are too immature to drink alcohol. I take issue with the simple defense that the police are just doing their job. Just like they should’ve exercised discretion on the bus all those years ago, it is not unreasonable to expect them to exercise discretion when they come on to our private property. Breathalyzing everyone isn’t a solution, it’s a fishing net – and the prize catch is a lucrative one. Every citation pulls in revenue for the town, and then it becomes clear why there is an ever expanding police presence on campus.

And so grievances like these have come to a head, and students have been compelled to organize a protest on campus. These circumstances have also led to a defining moment for the S.A. If this organization is going to remain relevant to the student body, then students must trust its ability to promote change on campus. The passion of the protest must be translated into a pragmatic will to see the desired changes enacted. That begins with the open forum at 1 p.m. in McCarthy. Don’t just stand outside in the cold for a half hour waving a sign, come into the warm hall and engage the issues in a serious manner. Be there to let your voice be heard. Be there to make a difference.