The Whitworthian

Issue date: 10/9/07

May 8 may seem like just another day, but to students who were around last year, it shall live in infamy as the "8th of May."

Not a very creative title, but catchy.

On that fateful morning last spring, students gathered around the Campanile to demonstrate.

What was the cause?

Err...I'm not really sure.

As exciting as it was for me to see my fellow students pushing for changes on the Whitworth campus, the whole thing was just kind of awkward.

The event showed Whitworth lacks clear, public communication between students, faculty and administration on important issues.

Students with a wide variety of concerns were planning to use the event as a platform, preventing any one message from having much of an impact. Although some students at the event said the protest was a last resort, many of the issues brought up were already being addressed by the administration.

For example, requests were made to increase the college's environmental sustainability. This was already being addressed through a sustainability task force of professors, staff and students.

Diversifying the Core curriculum was another issue.

"Senior Sha'Nay McQuirter encouraged the inclusion of more perspectives in the Core program as well as the revamping of freshman seminar," said the Whitworthian report on the event.

According to the report, ASWC had submitted a resolution with an addendum to the President's Cabinet two weeks prior making similar requests.

If it was already being addressed (changes to the Core curriculum were implemented over summer), why protest?

I believe students were either unaware of the ASWC resolution and the Sustainability Task Force or felt these measures were insufficient. The former could have been avoided with clearer communication from Administration and more research on the part of students. (Although, many students protesting were involved in ASWC and other leadership positions. If they are unclear on the details of the issues they are most passionate about, how is it possible that the general student body will get the facts right?)

In addition to lacking a clear message, the event was poorly timed. The very administrators the protest aimed to draw were committed to the Senior Honors Assembly that day.

"The date was decided without consideration of our schedules (making it hard for me) and it seemed to disrespect the students being recognized in the Honors Assembly," President Bill Robinson said in an e-mail.

Students could have planned the event better, but the fact that they felt the need for a protest points to a communication problem.

A third reason for protesting was a recent Board of Trustees decision not to add "sexual orientation" to Whitworth's non-discrimination policy.

There may have been a Whitworthian article on the issue, but to my knowledge, students did not receive direct communication from the administration on the issue of the non-discrimination policy until after the decision was made.

This was frustrating to students for whom the issue is deeply personal.

Robinson said he is surprised that students found him, Vice President for Student Life Kathy Storm, and executive assistant to the President Dale Soden inaccessible.

Students should voice their concerns to the administration by asking to meet with them, he said.

Staging a protest can be an effective way to force change by showing real peoples' concern for issues that seem to be viewed by decision-makers as pragmatic problems.

A public event brings everyone interested into the conversation, something that cannot be achieved by simply meeting with an administrator.

But if students knew what was going on and how they could access the administration, perhaps they would not feel so unheard.

Erika Prins is an opinions columnist and a senior majoring in International Studies and Spanish. Contact her at erika.prins@whitworthian.com.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools

The Whitworthian encourages readers to comment on any content on the whitworthian.com. Article comments can be posted by anyone. The opinions expressed are not necessarily the opinion of The Whitworthian, its editors or its staff. The Whitworthian strives to monitor and delete comments with profanity, advertisements, obscenity, plagiarism, personal attacks, threats of violence or that violate the law or common decency. However, since The Whitworthian does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not find offensive or inaccurate comments on occasion.

For this reason, The Whitworthian asks readers to be responsible and respectful in any comments posted. The responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not the whitworthian.com. Readers are also encouraged to report questionable comments by e-mailing editor@whitworthian.com.