Dear Students and Faculty of Monmouth:

 Every two weeks a group of students comes together on Monmouth’s campus to pay lip service to offering students a voice in campus decisions. In fact, they enjoy pretending that what they do actually matters or has any bearing on campus life that they give out fancy titles, break up into smaller groups, and play at having an actual democratic government. They have even made up rules for their game, which seems rather silly because no one follows them. Then again, it is only a game.

The Associated Students of Monmouth College (ASMC), commonly known as the Student Senate, is the formal name for this game. The Student Senate’s constitution, also known as the game’s rules, clearly defines the purpose of the organization:  it is “the voice of the students.” Well, fellow students, how well do you think your voice is being heard? Probably not very well. Here is a quick question. How many of you students actually like having finals on weekends? I don’t, and I suspect few do. Now, who do you think is supposed to be the students’ voice on that matter?

The sad thing is that the Student Senate should be more than just the game it is now. If nothing is done to change it into what it should be, then this campus would be best served by merely abolishing it. The leaders and students involved don’t follow the rules they created to govern themselves. Furthermore, the Senate serves not as “the voice of the students” but as a glorified money trough for organizations. When the students’ voice on campus has to pair the attendance of an organization’s senator to the ability to have funding in order to secure enough people at meetings, perhaps something is wrong. If funding is the only thing in which students and organizations have an interest, a Student Senate is superfluous—a student led group through the business office could easily serve that role. 

If the Student Senate is to be saved and to be made an actual voice for students, radical changes must occur:

First, some form of oversight must be put into place. Currently, no student judiciary or faculty body imposes consequences upon senators and/or the senate when rules, procedure, and the constitution are violated. So, why not break the rules? It’s easier.

Second, you faculty members must take an interest in the student voice and in preserving that voice. I sat on a faculty committee once, and it was a complete waste of time. You don’t listen to the students or heed our suggestions. In fact, you ask us for an opinion after yours is already determined. So, why should students engage in an organization where they can help shape college policy? You won’t listen anyway.

Third, you students need to actually stand up and demand the ability to influence college policy. Currently, you use the Student Senate as merely a place to obtain funding for events or to complain about something that your RA hasn’t had fixed yet. I have read countless discussion board threads concerning the lack of student input on commencement speakers. Go to the Student Senate. Do you agree with the way the college’s insatiable beast of a general education program works (or continues to grow)? Go to the Student Senate. Would you like all faculty to have a copy of the textbook on reserve in the library? Go to the Student Senate. So, if you choose not to exercise your “right and duty to participate responsibly in the formation of College Policy,” then don’t complain when you don’t like the policy. 

Fourth, the Student Senate must regain the power and authority due it under the ASMC constitution. Currently, you follow bad precedents and blindly cede power over to the Student Body Executive Board, which makes all decisions for you. You refuse to have any oversight over your own committees, allowing them to make decisions in the name of the whole body and giving them untold power. Committees recommend; they do not decide. The power lies not within committees or an executive board but within the whole Senate. If you want to call yourself a senate, act like one. So, follow the rules you made and the constitution you wrote.  If you can’t even govern yourselves according to your own rules, why should the faculty listen to you?

The charade every two weeks needs to end. The Student Senate can be abolished in favor a funding board or drastic changes can be implemented. Either way, everyone is a loser in the current game.   

 Sincerely,

Bejamin Sauer

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