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Volume 27, Issue 5, September 9, 2004

Opinion

Second-Class Citizens


Beth Ott
Student Government

The following is a true story. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

I dare you, pick a campus office. Walk in the door and ask for the person in charge (you know, the person whose door says “Director,” or “Associate V.P.,” or maybe even “Vice President”). I double-dare you!!! Ask to meet with this person. Betcha I know what’ll happen.

You see, last week I walked into an office (I won’t say which one) with a big problem. When no one would help me, I asked to speak to the director, and was told … are you ready … get this … “The director doesn’t meet with students.”

WHAT?!? Maybe I need to clean out my ears. Doesn’t meet with whom? Stewardesses? Shepherds? Remind me again—where do you work? WHO DO YOU SERVE?!?

Now, I wasn’t asking to meet with the Director of Laundry Services, or the Denver Squirrel Preservation Unit (DSPU), I was asking to meet with the director of a vital service, which ALL students use! To make matters worse, this office is funded by MY STUDENT FEES and the director, who makes more than $65,000 a year, “doesn’t meet with students.”

Call me crazy (and some do), but last time I checked, we had this revolutionary concept— “shared governance.” It may sound like a buzz word, stuffed into a paper to make the 800-word requirement, but I believe it means something. So do the Trustees – they thought it up! At the very least, it should mean students are more than an afterthought—better than second-class citizens. “Doesn’t meet with students.”

Once upon a time, an administrator told Student Government, “My door is open to you now, which isn’t true for most students.”

Excuse me? Aren’t you administering a college! Not a textile company; not an accounting firm; not a tire store, or a donut shop, or the neighborhood grocer. A college! I hate to break it to you, but this particular college is overrun with students. They’re everywhere!

It’s like a plague! If your door isn’t open to students, then to whom is it open? “Doesn’t meet with students.”

Try it! I dare you! And let me know what you find! Pick your favorite—or least favorite—campus office, and tell me what happens at mscd-sga@mscd.edu

If you get somewhere, send me an e-mail and I will send students their way. If you don’t … maybe it’s time for a change!