North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804
OPINION
October 12, 2007
Issue In-Focus: Inactive Student Government
A year after the college discontinued the traditional yearbook, the Student Government Association has been suspended until spring 2008,
due to a lack of students willing to run for office, among other issues. What do the recent developments in SGA suggest about the student
body and the college? What improvements would you recommend in order to make SGA a viable and effective organization?
Sean Riccio
As we, The Decree staff, are sitting
in the Writing Lab discussing this piece.
Dr, Grattan makes the statement that the
yearbook has been discontinued for a year.
A wave of shock rolls over the students. “I
didn’t know that!” “Since when don’t we
have a yearbookT’ The reasons cited by the
good doctor suggest a lack of interest, both
in purchasing and management. The students
protest. “How can we not have a yearbook?”
This begs the question, though: If they
care so much about the yearbook, how could
they have not noticed its cancellation?
This is all in relation to the discassion on
student government, which has been sus
pended. It seemed a waste to bum the school’s
small cash reserves on the organization when
nobody wanted to run. Our bureaucracy for
action in the management of our .school has
been taken away from us. Where are the angry
protests? Where are the loud condemnations
of those who would silence us? Why is it that
nobody, apparently, gives a crap?
Perhaps the problem lies in the former
Student Government Association. What,
exactly, did it do? Did it voice issues on
behalf of the student body to the administra
tion? Yes, but in a limp-wristed and nebbi.sh
way How many times was the issue of
hat-wearing raised, only to be shot down
by the admini.stration with little discussion?
Perhaps it acted as a way to try students who
faced expulsion? Of course not, we have the
Judiciary Board for that. Ok, so did it perhaps
help students organize events and activities
on campus? No, that’s the job of the Campus
Activities Board, which, by-the-by, has ef
fectively taken over the job of SGA’s funding
duties. It would .seem the SGA’s only duty in
life was to divvy out money to various clubs
and other groups, a function handed over to
CAB with little change in affairs.
So why does the disappearance of SGA
matter if it was so ineffectual, you might
ask? Well, the fact of the matter is it was in
effectual because of us. Why didn’t we force
through the issues we wanted discussed?
Why didn’t we demand more direct control
over campus activities? Well, we ju.st didn’t
seem to care. That’s the crux of the whole
situation, right there. We haven’t just failed
to keep our republic; we didn’t even seem to
want it in the first place.
And honestly, so what. Does anybody
care now that it’s gone? How has it really af-
- fected your life and affairs? We at Wesleyan
are a fairly insulated and apathetic lot. As
long as we have our cars to get off campus
and our sports teams to keep half the student
body enrolled, we’re going to be just fine. Or
at least, we’ll be the same as we have been.
So don’t fret, children of Wesleyan. Go back
to sleep. Nothing’s the worse for wear.
Janies Randolph
No yearbook. No SGA.! There are a
number of things NOT going on at Wesleyan
this school year which is partly due to the
lack of funding from the school and also a
lack of participation from the students. The
bottom line is... there is not enough interest
in the activities of the school to inspire
students or the funding chairmen to commit
time and energy into the programs. Aside
from the athletics, there is likely no organiza
tion on campus which can claim more than
twenty active and consistently participative
members. Sadly, the very inactive student
body is becoming even more uninterested
in the falling standards for extracurricular
activity at Wesleyan. Without funding from
the board to support the imagination of the
students, the students lose interest. Without
interest and commitment from the students,
the board loses faith in the potential of
funded programs, leading to a spiraling
cycle of disinterest and discontent. As for the
student government, the only way to really
develop a viable new organization is to spark
the interest of the students and give them a
reason to be excited about participafing in
the school’s activities. Someone just has to
step up and break the chain!
Chris Ochoa
The absence of SGA is directly connected
to the absence of student interest. I’m a .senior,
meaning that for the last three years 1’ ve
witnessed the successes and failures of SGA.
Mosfly there have been failures. 1 have reason
to believe that the majority of the student
body has recognized these failures as well.
It’s not that our student government
was not able to perform their duties; it was
becau.se the administration did not take them
seriously. I’ve been to several meetings and
we’ve voted an array of changes, but almost
all of them fell through the cracks. These
failures have left me, and maybe the majority
of the student body, feeling that it is useless
to commit time and effort just to be ignored.
There is nothing wrong with the structure
of SGA. I think their responsibilities should
be narrowed down to just serving as a
medium for the student body to voice their
The Decree
since I960 “of, by, and for the Wesleyan community.”
STAFF
Senior Staff Writers
Jessica D. Jones
Jessica Smith
Christine Werfelman
Staff Writers
Kelvin Clark
Joyce Collins
Jenna Davis
Kimberly Garrett
Kelleigh Jackson
Brandon Jones
Ken Kornegay
Amanda Landi
Chris Ochoa
James Randolph
Sean Riccio
Special Contributors
Anthony DeGregorio
Grace Wallace
Sports Editor
Trevor Seibert
Sports Writers
Mikey Case
Brock Griffin
Jade Johnson
Staff Photographer
Kathleen Penrod
Associate Art Director
Kathleen Penrod
Faculty Advisor
Dr. William Grattan
171 Braswell
Phone: 985-5336
Email: WJGrattan@ncwc.edu
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concerns and suggestions to the administration.
Over the last few years, SGA has been respon
sible for overseeing all the student organiza
tions’ programs. That is the responsibility of
the Campus Activities Board (CAB).
If SGA is going to be a viable and effective
organization, then the administration is going
to have to provide more support. Tuition is
really expensive; if the school wants to increase
student retention, then it should welcome the
students’ voice to help make this a college that
is more enjoyable and beneficial. Administra
tion’s support is the key to developing the SGA
as a prominent mainstay on this campus.
Ken Kornegay
The student body has no voice at this
school. The Student Government Association is
not in existence for the 2007-2008 school year.
One reason for not having SGA is
because of high student apathy. Only one
person took the time last year to fill out the
application and collect the signatures that
are needed to run for office. It seems that
students did not want the responsibilities that
come with holding high-ranking positions.
Another reason why students may not
have wanted to hold an SGA office is due to
the lack of stability in the Director of Student
Activities position. Wesleyan has had an
incredible number of changes in that one po
sition. Most heart-breaking was when Gabriel
Raynor resigned last fall after completing one
of the most successful terms at the position
in recent years. Under Gabe’s leadership, the
number of organizational programs increased
and student participation was riding high.
That change puzzled the whole student body,
especially the students who were active in
organizations and programming.
Even when SGA was active, the student
voice was never really heard. At one time
we wanted to get the Hartness Student
Center parking lot paved. That was a waste
of time and the request was denied and never
brought up again. Then came the collapse
of student morale when the step show was
cancelled in 2006. The students sent a mad
cry out to the administration, but to no
avail. The show was cancelled and students
could not do anything about it. SGA did not
even have a say when the hat policy was
created in the middle of a recent school year.
Students are still confused over that rule
and why it’s enforced. When Dr. Newbould
was asked why students could not wear hats
in the cafeteria, he simply replied, “Some
people don’t think it is appropriate for hats
to be wom while eating.” That’s not really
much of answer when students are 95% of
the people who are eating in the cafeteria
I cannot say that I blame students for
not wanting to put themselves in a position
whose advisor was constantly changing.
Jade T. Johnson
With a lack of student government at the
college, it suggests that students don’t have a
say in what is taking place. Considering that
most all decisions made by the higher ups in
the college affect students directly, 1 believe
that we should have some say in what is going
on. I personally did not know that SGA was
suspended until spring 08’; thus a lack of
communication between students and admin
istration is already taking place and, without a
student government, it can only get worse. In
order to create a more viable student govem-
ment I think that it is the administration’s job
to make SGA more appealing to students by
explaining that without an oi^anization such
as this the student voice will never be, and in
tum never be effective.
Kelleigh Jackson
I had heard that the campus’s Student
Govemment Association was being suspended
but I didn’t think that it was true. Though I
think that SGA is essential to college life,
I don’t think that Wesleyan’s SGA was
particularly effective. It was the main place to
discuss problems among students, whether it
was the cafeteria food, the recreational hours,
or even lack of communication in organiza
tions. But from my previous interactions
witii SGA regarding lack of communication
between me, a former Miss Wesleyan, and the
SGA administration, I found that even though I
took the issue to the board, it was never solved.
The fact tiiat the school decided to
suspend SGA until spring 2008 just proves
tiiat those who occupied the board last really
didn’t set good examples for tiiose who
looked up to them. Otherwise, we would
have numerous candidates from tiie stiident
body for each role. 1 think tiiat a good way to
increase participation in SGA is to encourage
the students. If a teacher finds that a student
stands out in a class academically and
tiirough leadership skills, why not extend
a recommendation for SGA. If they show
leadership in the classroom, I’m sure tiiey
can show leadership through tiie student
govemment.
Jenna Davis
I don’t really keep up with what the
Student Govemment Association does, and I
didn’t know that it had been suspended. How
ever, I think that the SGA is a major part of
our student body. I’m surprised that, out of so
many stiidents at Wesleyan, tiiat tiiere weren’t
enough people to mn for SGA positions. SGA
makes a lot of tilings happen for our stiident
body. It seems tfiat there is something wrong
witii tiie way SGA was handled for so few
people to want to be a part of it.
Like I said before, I don’t really know
all of what SGA does, and maybe fliat’s a
problem. Maybe tiie school should try to
advertise more when SGA meetings are
held, so tiiat tiie stiident body can see what
is happening around campus. If tiie student
body is more aware of tiie goings-on of tiie
SGA, tiien maybe tiiere will be more interest
to fulfill positions for tiie next year.
Joyce Collins
I tiiink suspending SGA is ridiculous! Just
because students don’t want to be in office
does not mean tiiey are not just as interested
in tiie organization as someone who was.
Suspending tfie organization is not going
to solve anything, because when tiie spring
semester comes around, die freshmen, and
otiiers stiidents new to NCWC, are not going
to have a clue as to tiie mission of SGA. If
anytiiing, we should be drawing more atten
tion to tiie oi;ganization to attract students tiiat
may be willing to be on tiie executive board.
One tiling that I tiiink tiie college can do is
to hold a meeting about SGA and discuss die
issues at hand. Why is student involvement
at an all-time low? What are some tilings we
can do to draw more interested students?
Be a Rebel ...Wear a Hat
By Jessica Autumne Smith
Decree Senior Staff Writer
I could not care less what other
people wear. It is their business, not
mine, and I am not of¥ended by their
particular fashion choices. And from
what I can gather, no one is offended
by mine. You see, I wear a hat, almost
every day; I know - who cares?
Apparently, the administration and
only the administration. For one reason
or another they have enacted a policy
to banish headgear from the hallways
and classrooms. But students are still
allowed to show up in their pajamas.
How much sense does that
make?
It seems that the ones
behind the policy are the
only ones who waste time
and energy enforcing it.
Most professors and the
vast majority of students
are not bothered by
‘violators’ of the policy.
“We don’t care about
what’s on their heads, it’s
what’s in their heads that
really matters,” as Dr.
Kenneth Finney said in a
recent interview. I found
only one objection, and that was to a
very specific type of headgear: hooded
sweatshirts. I can see the reasoning be
hind this. Pulling the hood down over
the eyes, students might be tempted to
sleep in class. That is a legitimate and
logical reason to oppose hoods. But
ball caps and other forms of headgear?
There’s no reason that students should
not be allowed'to wear them.
My hats are not disruptive or
offensive. They are souvenirs;
reminders of places that I’ve been,
things I have seen and done. One came
from the Halifax County Harvest Days
Festival, held every year in October;
another from the annual Nashville
Blooming Festival, held every spring.
Two came from Cherokee, NC where
my family has a reunion/vacation
every summer. Cherokee is such a
beautiful place. Mountains and sky that
go on forever. Two more came from
Oregon: one from the Lewis and Clark
National Historic Park, the other from
the Timberline Lodge on top of Mount
Hood. That was the first time I have
ever seen snow twenty feet deep; the
amazing thing was that the roads were
clear and passable. Not like home,
in NC where a quarter-inch of snow
shuts everything down for a week. Still
another was a gift...
The point is my hats are special to
me. I like to wear them
and show them off.
And I feel that I should
be able to. Well, at
least according to
the First Amendment
of the United States
Constitution, the
“Supreme Law of the
Land” as they call it, I
should be able to. Put,
plain and simple with
no disrespect intended,
the right of free speech
supersedes any policy
made by college staff.
Dr. Finney has established an
organized ‘resistance’ (for lack of
a better word) to the hat policy, the
Sombrero Liberation Association or
the SLA. If you’re tired, like I am, of
being hassled on your way to class
only because you like to keep your
hair out of your face and the sun out
of your eyes, stand up for your right of
free speech as a United States citizen.
Wear a hat, simply because you can.
What you wear makes no difference to
me; you want to wear pajamas to class,
be my guest. It just doesn’t bother me.
But as for me, if my hat offends you
(although I can’t imagine why), well,
then, just don’t look at it. As they say,
out of sight, out of mind
History Professor Ken Finney has organized the SLA, Sombrero
Liberation Association. Decree Staff Photo