Student Council Implements COSA Adjustments Students React
By Synne Chapman ‘07
News Staff Reporter
Recently, the Student Council charged the Committee on Student Activities (COSA) with the responsibility of creating a new policy regarding Club Officer elections. Before Spring Break of this year, the Student Council adopted the new election procedures as recommended by COSA. “The goal in the process was to provide a standard that would work for all different kinds of clubs,” said Mr. Yanelli, the Student Activities Director. “We wanted to make sure that elections took place in a controlled setting with a COSA representative and an adult present, so that all the elections would be received as fair.” However, not all clubs will be expected to follow the new procedures. Singing ensembles, Academic-related clubs, and Student Publications, are not expected to elect their officers like other clubs.
According to Mike Morrill ‘06, former vice president of the Student Council and thus the head of COSA, “in many cases, with some notable exceptions, we have forced many clubs to hold elections to determine new club leaders.” Before the policy change, many of the clubs on campus did not hold democratic elections. Outgoing officers would appoint the next group of officers, “and club leadership would pass down from year to year, and that often created inefficiencies in the way the club went about its business,” says Mr. Yanelli.
Mr. Yanelli also explained that while no specific incidents precipitated this change, “the perception is that there exist some clubs on campus that are not particularly meaningful or useful.” Morrill claims the changes are part of the Student Council’s effort to democratize the club system, which sought to get rid of the “spoils system” that had evolved, in which outgoing officers would “merely appoint their best friends to ranking positions.”
When asked for his opinion, Mark Dee ‘07, the newly elected vice president of the Student Council, noted, “I think the idea is to make sure that procedures are standardized, and that clubs are running fair elections - just to keep the clubs from getting complacent and make sure that the new leadership complies with the club’s mission statement.” However, some club leaders and officials do not agree with the changes. Masako Chen ‘07, an officer for the Asian Students Association (ASA), said, “... it’s really difficult for a big club to get together most of its members for an election.” Sooihn Kang ‘07, Vice President of the Spanish Club, also does not like the new rules. “I think these rules are ridiculous and unessential. Most clubs have functioned perfectly fine without [them]. While some may view these rules as beneficial for restoring more order to the clubs and placing power into more responsible hands, the rules are also a means to ruin a club.” Kang went on to explain that, “The rules only serve to constrict and limit what the current presidents and officers can do to better their clubs. For the moment, I believe COSA should only encourage clubs to follow these guidelines, but not set penalties for those who choose not to follow the rules so that they may ensure their clubs’ development.”
Despite these protests, the policy is open to change, as both SAC Staffers Mike Lavigne Jr. ‘03 and Chris Bielizna explained. According to one source, “There will probably be a window of a few terms, or maybe a few years before these policies are settled and agreed upon.”
