StuCo should shift to greater advocacy
The most fundamental problem plaguing the Council is intrinsic. For too long the body has drifted towards programming rather than advocacy. It cannot be this way. The Council must become the voice of the students, not their social coordinator.
To remedy this situation, technical, institutional and social changes must be realized. From a technical point the administrative work must be minimized or outsourced. The creation of satellite groups to perform these functions is an option as is devolving these responsibilities to other student groups.
Further, all programming must be stopped. Council should always be on the side of fun, but its purpose is larger. Finally, elections should not be done based on class or committee. Officers should not be preoccupied with serving these narrow interests. Instead they must seek out the larger issues.
On an institutional level there must also be change. The Council must become fiscally independent. There is no way to negotiate when in a position of dependency. Such a bold move would force the Council to economize their resources and to assess their priorities. More broadly, the Council must secure political autonomy. It must move from the system of a paternalistic oversight to a more egalitarian one.
From a social place the Council must reach out to students. The way to do this is to re-calibrate the way the agenda is set. Instead of having officers work as political entrepreneurs, students must decide the issues. The job of an officer is to solicit the opinions of the students on the salient issues of the day. By salient issues I mean security, healthcare, housing and dining, tuition, travel abroad and internship credits.
There are promising signs that change is coming. Over the course of the year the Council and the executive board in particular have become increasingly vocal about the need to secure more cooperation from the administration. This is part of a broader feeling that the function of the body needs to shift from programming to advocacy.
It remains to be seen if this positive spirit will be translated into action. If the past is any indication, the Council will disappoint. Yet this change depends on intelligent and courageous students, and Hopkins certainly has no shortage of those.
To remedy this situation, technical, institutional and social changes must be realized. From a technical point the administrative work must be minimized or outsourced. The creation of satellite groups to perform these functions is an option as is devolving these responsibilities to other student groups.
Further, all programming must be stopped. Council should always be on the side of fun, but its purpose is larger. Finally, elections should not be done based on class or committee. Officers should not be preoccupied with serving these narrow interests. Instead they must seek out the larger issues.
On an institutional level there must also be change. The Council must become fiscally independent. There is no way to negotiate when in a position of dependency. Such a bold move would force the Council to economize their resources and to assess their priorities. More broadly, the Council must secure political autonomy. It must move from the system of a paternalistic oversight to a more egalitarian one.
From a social place the Council must reach out to students. The way to do this is to re-calibrate the way the agenda is set. Instead of having officers work as political entrepreneurs, students must decide the issues. The job of an officer is to solicit the opinions of the students on the salient issues of the day. By salient issues I mean security, healthcare, housing and dining, tuition, travel abroad and internship credits.
There are promising signs that change is coming. Over the course of the year the Council and the executive board in particular have become increasingly vocal about the need to secure more cooperation from the administration. This is part of a broader feeling that the function of the body needs to shift from programming to advocacy.
It remains to be seen if this positive spirit will be translated into action. If the past is any indication, the Council will disappoint. Yet this change depends on intelligent and courageous students, and Hopkins certainly has no shortage of those.
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