Lana Blank is exasperated — you could hear it in her voice
at last week’s A.S. Council meeting, where the chair of the Thurgood Marshall
Student Council was practically pleading with Vice Chancellor of Student
Affairs Penny Rue. Her academic schedule, Blank said, would prohibit her from
attending committee meetings during which members would pick
next dean of student affairs.
As one of three student representatives appointed to the
committee, Blank was well aware of the impacts of her attendance (and
nonattendance). As the leading administrative link between the university and
its students, Rue was well aware of a bigger problem: “Only three?” Rue said,
referencing the glaringly nominal number of students on the committee.
The problem dove deeper as Blank spoke further. Student
politicians already wield a hefty academic workload, she said, and were not
being appropriately accommodated.
Blank’s troubles illustrate a larger problem that has
escalated over the past year: Administrators are turning a cold shoulder to
student representation. Her scheduling snafu worsens an already dismal scandal
at
Havis first elected only two students to his selection committee, and some
councilmembers declared one committee member unfit for the job. Havis then
threw protesting TMC students a meager bone by electing a third student. That
third student, however, is allowed minimal participation, joining only the
final stage of discussion and left without voting powers.
Weeks before, councilmembers from
voiced protest about being improperly informed of plans to change general
education requirements. The uproar was a month late, with an Academic Senate
sub-body approving the proposal 8-1 — the single dissenter was the committee’s
only undergraduate representative.
Pertinent, student-related issues will continue to bypass
the council unless representation is expanded. Blank and her councilmembers
face a stark reality: Faculty and staff will tap the deans they want, approve
the plans they like and meet during the times they can, until there are enough
students to stop them.
