• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
      Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
    • CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
      CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
    • WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
      WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
      Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
    • Turn it off: healing from news fatigue in the digital age
      Turn it off: healing from news fatigue in the digital age
    • Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflation
      Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflation
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Controversial
      The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Controversial
    • Lucy Dacus Brings a Minimal Yet Powerful Performance to Northeastern University
      Lucy Dacus Brings a Minimal Yet Powerful Performance to Northeastern University
    • “Glass Onion” Takes Shots at Easy Targets
      “Glass Onion” Takes Shots at Easy Targets
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Student-Athlete of October
      Student-Athlete of October
    • Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
      Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
    • The Case for Body Neutrality
      The Case for Body Neutrality
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Rejected Snooze Articles for the Week
      Rejected Snooze Articles for the Week
    • Happy Valentine’s Day from Spog
      Happy Valentine’s Day from Spog
    • The Four Best Places to Loudly FaceTime Someone on Campus
      The Four Best Places to Loudly FaceTime Someone on Campus
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Jodi Wei Letters to the Editor, OpinionsApril 17, 2019

Letter to the Editors: Re: “The referendum petition shows a clear disregard for constitutional principles”

To the Editors:

Re: “The referendum petition shows a clear disregard for constitutional principles” (opinion, Apr. 10)

As of this writing, the referendum has already taken place and was decided by the student body. Even so, I am compelled to address the claims and assertions made by the author and place the misinformation in the context of a bigger picture. Specifically, there is much to be said about the current state of College Government (CG), its cabinet and the relationship both entities have with the greater student body; only in this referendum fiasco have the cracks in the relationship been made clear.

My most immediate concern is your presentation of CG and the reality the rest of the student body regularly encounters. In the fifth paragraph, you write, “It is the right of any member of the student body to voice concerns about CG practices.” Inherent to any functioning democracy — national, state, local and even collegiate — there is a standing belief that voices will be heard and addressed. Unspoken in this, however, is the recognition that although the onus is on the government entity to hear those voiced concerns, it is also the government’s function to ensure that healthy and vocal discussion be fostered and encouraged, even at the risk of disagreement, woe and — god forbid — embarrassment to the individuals at the head of the government body.

This is far from the case in the events surrounding the referendum. Not only has conversation not been encouraged, it could even be argued that the current CG cabinet has worked with unusual effort to suppress dissension amongst its constituency by rallying its supporters and publicly decrying the actions of an individual that happened to have enough gall to call into question recent events. I wonder, for instance, why, between the two opinions you wrote last week, friends and supporters chose to share the one that shamed the use of the referendum tool (and implicitly the person who initiated the measure) rather than the one that explained the benefits of the SOAC restructuring measure? Was the student body, who could have benefited from an explanation, not tasked to vote on that very measure?  While I may not know the exact reasoning you and your friends reached to make that choice, my instinct tells me that it was deliberate, targeted and driven by spite. This is, as is much of this drama, representative of a larger, more pressing issue facing the College now. We cannot have this pattern of behavior from a government body whose sole stated purpose is to make the College a better place.

To reiterate, the referendum was a courageous action that allowed the student body to inspect their leadership with greater scrutiny. Your writing exemplifies the very consternation that compelled me to pen this letter. Just as you spoke of the right of students to voice concerns, merely three paragraphs after you write of the incomprehensibility of encouraging more student participation and access to the abstruse CG rules and processes. It is bemusing at best and irresponsible at worst to posit these two capricious statements as truth in the same piece of writing. Which, then, is it? Are we to participate, or is participation not to be expected of us? The burden remains on CG to guide students in a manner of democratic participation that is fair and equitable. The referendum is not as you say “a wanton disregard for constitutional ethics,” it is a proper and fair use of a vague constitutional stipulation designed to encourage the very conversations your cabinet is seeking to diminish. This is wrong.

I implore you and the rest of the CG cabinet, and especially the incoming body, to self-examine and set fair standards of participation and discussion. I, and surely the majority of the student body, do not want to stand in opposition or hold any more distrust of CG, but to undoing these preconceived notions begins with your outward demonstration of change, reflection and above all, apology. Our campus will benefit from a concerted, collective effort to dismantle inequality, discrimination and exploitation that we experience on a daily basis at Wellesley. We cannot do this if the CG cabinet is Janus-faced and petty. Take the lesson of this referendum not as a victory but as a message that you, CG cabinet, must be better.

 

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleSolitary confinement is torture, and whistleblowers don’t belong in prison: Free Chelsea Manning
Next articleFears grow as we anticipate the consequences of the US.-Mexico border close on our supply of avocados

You may also like

Logos of social media apps such as Twitter, Tiktok, Netflix, Spotify, and Discord.

Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity

Abstract painting of various boxes meant to imply computer and phone screens

Turn it off: healing from news fatigue in the digital age

A collection of a wide variety of foods in the colors of the rainbow

Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflation

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

  • Logos of social media apps such as Twitter, Tiktok, Netflix, Spotify, and Discord. Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
  • Stone-Davis dining staff report mistreatment
  • The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Contro...
  • A collection of a wide variety of foods in the colors of the rainbow Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflat...
  • Red envelope that contains money to celebrate the Lunar New Year. America’s cultural appropriation is a modern form of i...

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top