State of the Campus: an address by Stu Comm President Meredith Loomis Quinlan
Dear friends,
Happy Spring Quarter! It has been so much fun to see the campus come alive, as it does every spring, with new faces back from study abroad and the energy that the sun seems to bring out in all of us. Every single one of my nights has been jam-packed with events, discussion groups, and student organization meetings, and I am sure yours have been as well. Let’s make sure that we are taking the time to enjoy the company of our friends, to read on the quad, and to take care of ourselves as we start this busy quarter.
The Student Commission has been hard at work on two main issues. The first is about food in our community and the dining services bid process. We held a forum at the end of last quarter to discuss this process and a document crafted by the Committee on Food Policy, which would serve as a guidance for “Just, Local, and Sustainable Food at K.” There will have been a second food forum by the time this issue of the Index goes to print, and one more will occur on Monday, Apr 9 from 5-6 p.m. in Olds-Upton room 103. I also want to ask you to join us this Friday at Community Reflection, as Student Commission and Service-Learning partner together for a reflection entitled “Food for Thought.” We want to engage the student body and the K community in a dialogue about food, and the opportunity we have with this bid process to think about what it means to our campus. I encourage you to come to these events, and also to talk to your Commissioners about your opinions on food and dining services at K.
The second issue that StuComm has been putting a lot of time into has been a review of our Constitution. We passed a new Constitution at our last meeting on Monday night, and now it will be up to the student body to vote on this new document. We will be holding a forum on Thursday, Apr 12 from 5-7 p.m. in the Hicks to talk about the changes and why we think they are necessary. The vote will occur during 4th week, and in order for the document to be ratified, it must be approved by ¾ of the voters.
The major changes to the document are the number of year-long positions, the composition of the executive board, and the structure of elections for Commissioners. We have added two standing committees and modified one of them, allowing for more student representation on issues that we care about, like club sports and student organizations. We have also added the position of Secretary of Student Affairs to the Executive Board while moving Secretary of Records to a year-long position. That way, another strong voice will be at the table when discussing student life with the administration. Finally, we have changed the election of Commissioners to increase competition and have more students involved who are dedicated to doing the work of serving you.
We hope that these changes will allow for StuComm to be a more effective and efficient student government, by encouraging the best leaders at K to be elected and to have positions that better reflect the needs of the student body.
Thank you for your hard work throughout the winter to make K such a wonderful place. We look forward to talking to you in these upcoming weeks as we continue to represent your voice in the dining services bid process and as we build a stronger student government together.
As always, feel free to talk to any of the Commissioners about your questions or ideas. I would be happy to sit down with you to discuss any of these issues in-depth or to talk about other concerns you may have.
Sincerely,
Meredith Loomis Quinlan
President, Student Commission
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