Size shouldn’t matter in student affairs

Last weekend, myself and other members of CSC Student Senate traveled to Wayne State College to participate in the annual NSCS Leadership Conference. Each NSCS member school participated. 

The event helps student government leaders gain valuable insight into how they can better serve their constituents with improved leadership skills and strategies. As host, WSC chose a different format for the conference this year by emphasizing a transfer of ideas and methods of how our different student governments operate.

Fortunately, CSC arrived well-prepared and with a well-functioning government for the new format; CSC’s presentation demonstrated a model government for other state colleges to achieve. 

Peru State College arrived with just four representatives after its senate president recently and unexpectedly resigned office. The successive president was left with no vice president because of poorly constructed line of succession rules in the senate constitution. 

With that said, Peru pledged to revamp its constitution and improve student interest in their government after declining interest. 

At WSC, many students are highly engaged in their government, but like Peru, they admit their constitution needs revitalized—or should I say, gutted and cleaned. As a result, they are currently in the midst of a complicated constitutional convention. To their advantage, many Wayne senators are interested in working with CSC to improve their constitution. 

They clearly want a new government that will work best for their students and ensure a fair distribution of activity funds. If those senators continue their work, I foresee a healthy WSC Student government arriving at the next NSCS Leadership Conference. 

For now, I sincerely thank them for the pleasant hospitality and great memories made. However, their current president, Blake Aspen, appears more concerned with ensuring CSC and Peru have a smaller voice in NSCS affairs. 

Unfortunately, during his concluding speech, he suggested that CSC and Peru should have a smaller voice on the NSCS Board of Trustees. In other words, he believes Wayne should have an additional student trustee representing its students on the Board while not giving CSC or Peru increased representation.

Not only were CSC and Peru caught off guard by Aspen’s outlandish proposal, WSC’s own senators had no idea this was (to use the words of their president) “coming down the pipe.” 

Moreover, the proposal was without reason. Apparently President Aspen forgets that student trustees are non-voting members and already get plenty of time to discuss policy on the Board of Trustees. 

Indeed, the addition of another Wayne trustee will harm CSC Students, and as a CSC senator, I oppose any proposal that will reduce the opportunity for our students to speak about issues impacting them.

Thus, I encourage the WSC student president to remain focused on issues impacting his students such as their broken constitution and (to use his words) “fascinating” lack of student involvement in government. 

In the meantime, at CSC, our senate will continue doing the good work of the students and ensuring their voice is amplified.

Sullivan Jones,

Liberal Arts Senator