The GSU town hall happened last month, on February 28th, in the Daniel J. Evans Hall Lobby. Open for all students to join and to express comments, questions and concerns that they have regarding the school. No admin were invited in order to “hold a safe space for students to express their feelings openly without the worry of repercussions,” as stated by the GSU. There was mention of another town hall being held in Spring with intent to extend an invitation to administration.Going in, we all knew that this was going to be bumpy, as it was the first effort of contact by this particular GSU body and developing new structures is never simple. I took a seat towards the back. I like to watch things unfold from the edges, the widest angle possible. Throughout the town hall, various students expressed feeling frustrated with communication from Administration as a whole throughout most departments of the school, feeling they cannot connect with what is going on anywhere on campus and live in the dark to knowledge. Students also expressed wanting a direct line of communication with Administration so then they feel like they are heard properly regarding concerns.
At many points the town hall felt messy, and awkward, not aided by the broken sound system that necessitated half-shouting across the lobby. By expressing this opinion I mean no ill-will towards the members of the GSU that worked hard to put this event together against circumstances out of their control. Yet in many ways, the challenges of the meeting brought to light the real communication disconnect happening between the student body and student government.
GSU is supported by student fees, and its stipend-compensated officers are appointed rather than elected. The town hall being their first student facing event, many students did not have an awareness of how the GSU functioned or what even its role was. As Q&A initiated, the GSU began to field many questions outside of their scope of influence. The GSU members assured the audience that all the concerns were being written down to be addressed at future meetings. As a step further, what needed to be solidified was process: Once a concern is brought to GSU what do the steps to resolve it look like? Does the GSU have capacity to initiate resolutions for student concerns such as absence of administrative ceasefire call, expansions of police services, lack of dialogue around Jonathan Rodriguez, changes in academics, and student employee workplace concerns, or do they need to be approached with a plan first? One student at the town hall asked a variant on this question of process, but the answer became obscured by emphasizing the need to show up to the weekly meetings to put pressure on the GSU board.
For students who missed the town hall, or for those who exited the meeting frustrated from a lack of answers, the troubling and most hopeful item to hold onto is this. More than representing student interests, GSU is a body designed to be manipulated by the student body. It is the first place to present a petition– whether by proposing a petition subject or delivering grassroots gathering– because it is the official foothold that students maintain that cannot be dismissed as a random, fringe group of individuals that do not have to be negotiated with. It is a pot of funding for student events and campus improvements, such as the push for gender neutral bathrooms in 2013. It is a means of political strategy contained within Evergreen that should not be ignored. With the help of people already seated within the inside, we will have to act to make the most of this entity. It’s not just the responsibility of the GSU to make steps, we as the students need to be pushing, pressuring and working with them.
In the last issue of the CPJ we got an update from GSU member Juniper, who did a great job of synthesizing information and I would love to see more things like that in the future. Going forward, information is the name of the game. Who has it? How do we disperse it? And IS IT ACCURATE? One of the biggest enemies towards collective understanding on campus is how easy misinformation can be spread. When someone tells you something, ask questions. We look forward to more avenues of contact and proposal for the GSU.
Thank you to the panelists, and particularly GSU member Janery for organizing the event. Find out more and keep up to date with the GSU’s weekly meetings at https://sites.evergreen.edu/gsu/ .
