Disclaimer: LTE was originally submitted Monday, March 15, 2021.
Dear Spectator,
Since the start of the summer, with the rise of protests for Black Lives Matter, Hamilton has pushed to do more in support of their minority students with actions such as allocating more funding towards D&I work and the creation of the infamous Advisory Council. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a problem and it does come off as a solid plan. However, the Advisory Council in its formation and current lineage shows minimal dedication to the work of equality and structural change to the college. For starters, it should be noted that the Black Latinx Student Union (BLSU) called out President Wippmann and the Advisory Council for name-dropping the organization in participation with them during the Listening Sessions without confirmation nor communication from the organization. This resulted in BLSU presenting demands which included the Action Council in order to provide more responsibility and long-term solutions that affect the campus. Unsurprisingly this went ignored even with a
petition
signed by 1,653 members of the Hamilton community in support of the demands as well as boycotts of the listening sessions, and meetings with members of the Advisory Council and Administration. Often this ignoring stems from the perception that students, “Don’t know anything about the institution.”
This leads us to our current timeline, as Student Assembly gained a new President and established the Audit and Action Council (FKA the Action Council). Working from the demands of BLSU, this council attempts to resolve the foundational issues seen within the Advisory Council such as more faculty and student involvement, as well as representatives from cultural organizations who were left out in the initial announcement from President Wippman. It also seeks to be more long-term within Student Assembly, unlike the Advisory Council which will be ultimately disbanded after submitting the final draft of recommendations. They haven’t been the only ones who’ve made progress. Recently the first draft of recommendations on potential initiatives has been presented by the Advisory Council in hopes to get suggestions and edits from the community. Sadly, the Advisory Council continues to disregard the concerns and requests to halt their proceedings in order for the Audit and Action council to review their draft and make suggestions of their own. As student voices attempt to have a say in what programs and initiatives the college focuses on and how it affects them, it becomes evident that those in power place their own viewpoints and feelings over those who will deal with the result and consequences of these decisions. A third-party organization, Esquilin Consulting summarized the same problem in their final report stating,” many participants reported feeling a considerable amount of mistrust of the Hamilton administration” (5) and suggesting the college create a process, “that allows all members of the community to feel like they have voices in determining the priorities and action items moving forward.” (17)
To be clear, it’s understandable that Administrators have a bird’s eye view of logistics, funding, and internal systems that keep the school afloat thus having expertise in what will work and what won’t. The concern though, is that many choose to overshadow and undermine the experiences and the critiques from students that would make the environment, social scene, and overall college experience livable. Spaces that they create to give students a voice and listen, often are riddled with condescending remarks, racist, sexist, and classist undertones, and the worn-out phrase “We Hear You!” No one is saying that the work administrators do is irrelevant or not appreciated, but if you are going to make it difficult for students to express how they want to be treated and seen in the community, then there is a toxic underlying issue that will destroy the relationship between Hamilton and those it’s supposed to represent. I’m hopeful that a continuous push from students and faculty will result in a potential collaboration with Administration. However, we won’t know until a table is finally set for student representation.
Sincerely,
Malik Irish
