Letters:

Dear Editors,

As next year’s SGA President, I am motivated by the recent discussions on diversity at Skidmore, and in this letter I wish to offer some reflections that I think will move this ongoing conversation forward. I will attempt to give appropriate historical background as I move through these thoughts. As many of you are aware, Hilal’s departure sparked a potent, student-driven campaign calling for six action items. Many student leaders crafted a passionate letter to the administration requesting expedited action on six demands. In brief, these demands were:
1. To expand and improve the Intercultural Center (ICC)
2. To hire a new Diversity Programs Director and to allocate more resources to that person’s office
3. To institutionalize or financially support an international student advising program
4. To develop and offer a College-wide training program on diversity- and multiculturalism-related issues
5. To improve the recently established Bias Response Taskforce
6. To adopt a gender-inclusive nondiscrimination policy

One week after the letter was sent to Dean of Students Pat Oles and members of President Glotzbach’s Cabinet, student leaders hosted a community open forum, where hundreds of students, administrators, faculty, and staff listened to heartfelt and open dialogue primarily about what diversity means and what actions need to be taken at Skidmore.

Dean Oles responded to the letter and open forum and offered immediate action (at least in terms of administrative time) on several of the student demands. These actions include:
1. Development of a Bias Response Protocol before the end of this academic year
2. Development of diversity-related programs for Student Affairs staff by the end of this academic year
3. Conclude a search for and hire a new International Student Advisor by the end of this academic year
4. Hire an Interim Director of Student Diversity Programs in April, 2007 and subsequently complete a search for and hire a new Director by September, 2007.

While I applaud the efforts of Dean Oles and his colleagues and appreciate their sensitivity on this matter, the student opinion of the administrative response was, to be frank, negative.

Students at Project Unity were dissatisfied with the response because some of the six demands listed above were not met, albeit rightfully so in terms of proper process. Dean Oles does not have the power to move the ICC at his will. He needs to consult with appropriate constituencies (i.e. students, faculty, etc.) about where it should be relocated and how such a move would be managed among other issues.

That being said, Dean Oles did not clearly indicate that the administration was going to continue thinking strategically about Skidmore’s future plans to meet the needs outlined in the student letter. In my opinion, this latter point was the most disappointing aspect of Dean Oles’ letter. Rather than conveying Skidmore’s future plans, the letter focused primarily on the here and the now.

I do not think, however, that Dean Oles or his colleagues are entirely at fault for this shortcoming, as I believe that he and his administrative team were responding within the framework established by the student letter and open forum. We focused on the here and the now and did not appropriately convey the importance of long-range planning beyond what is already delineated in the Strategic Plan.

We should have been clearer about our expectations of the administration, and we should have emphasized them appropriately. Thus, one of the primary purposes of my letter is to articulate what I think needs to be the central question underlying future discussions on diversity at Skidmore: how do we make the Skidmore environment safe for everyone? This question is multifaceted and is compounded by the fact that the climate at Skidmore changes as the composition of the community changes.

The Office of Admissions has done commendable work to recruit students from diverse backgrounds, but Skidmore’s social infrastructure is currently insufficient to meet the demands of an increasingly diverse student body. At this point it is worth noting that all six of the items in the student letter ultimately call for improvements in Skidmore’s social infrastructure.

I encourage the administration to think strategically about what support mechanisms this community needs. When we talk about diversity at Skidmore, we are not talking about a faction within our community that is termed “diverse;” rather, we are talking about the entire community.

We now have the impetus to bring student leaders, faculty, and administrators into the same room to ask hard questions (i.e. how exactly does the College define diversity) and to make the best possible decisions for the current community and future communities.

Undoubtedly, such a task will be demanding, but the end will bring us a more productive learning environment. As next year’s SGA President, I am enthusiastic about such work and hope to see both immediate actions as well as thoughtful long-range commitments on behalf of the College.

Sincerely,
Jon Brestoff
SGA Vice
President for
Academic Affairs

 

 

 

Editorial:

Our school color is green - students should be too

The Skidmore Community has taken some steps toward becoming a greener campus. With the help of the EAC (Environmental Action Committee) students have learned more about recycling, the effects of wasting water, and the uses of environmentally friendly buildings. Although some of us could still use some help, in the past two years, there have been huge improvements.

EAC has completely turned themselves around in the past few years. They went from just being a name on campus to being completely proactive and beginning as many as twenty five initiatives on campus that have helped make Skidmore a more environmentally conscious place.

They had a huge Earth Day festival this year with guest Darr Williams, farmers’ market vendors, clothing swaps and great food for the community. There is now even talk of a Skidmore farm, greenhouse and fruit orchards for our own picking. Skidmore used to have a garden in Scribner Village. Let’s bring it back.

Besides Earth Day events, EAC has also had great success with their recycling initiatives around campus, teaching us to stop being lazy and start separating our plastics from our papers. They have used more environmentally friendly products and have urged other campus events and organizations to use them, as well. The green bikes campaign has given students the opportunity to get out of their cars and onto bikes by renting them from Campus Safety for the day.

Hopefully, EAC will do even more to advertise their efforts in the upcoming months and years with more chalking, recycled paper flyers, student announcements, and lectures.

It has helped to see the signs in the buildings that tell us what we can and cannot recycle helps greatly as does the water waste facts of how much water we actually waste every time we shower and flush. The lights out campaign has helped us have an incentive to turn out the lights after we leave a room, but we should also remember to unplug things if we aren’t using them for long periods of time.

There should be recycling bins in the classrooms not just the hallways. Students should be driving less, especially with the warm weather. The number of smokers on campus is incredibly high. Please be aware of where you discard your cigarette butts. Also, with the warm weather there are more students outside. Pick up after yourselves.

Although we all want immediate results, the student body must realize that change takes time and that all we really need to do is get the ball rolling while we’re here. Everyone needs to help in some way.

We should follow other school’s green models like Vermont Law School with their water saving toilets and Oberlin College with their self sustaining building, where their motto is, “we know that buildings can be designed to give more than they take.”

The administration appears to wholeheartedly support student efforts, but they themselves do not seem to be as involved as they could be. The EAC wanted President Glotzbach to sign the “President’s Climate Committee,” which is a pledge stating that he will support environmental action on campus. Glotzbach would not sign it; explaining that he wanted to be green but there are other issues at stake that we need to think about.

Although there are more issues on the agenda, without an environmentally aware campus, Skidmore is only contributing to the ever-growing problems facing our nation. Some students care. Some are recycling obsessed and some don’t separate their trash from plastics, ever. Overall, we could all stand to be a little more enthusiastic about environmental action.

-The Skidmore News Editorial Board