Home >> Archives >> 03.07.05
Attachments
DRAFT: Wellesley College Environmental Policy short
DRAFT: Wellesley College Environmental Policy full
College Government Elections Amendments
I. Roll Call/Agenda
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Thank you for your articulate and eloquent input during the Honor Code review convention. Chailee and the other committee members have worked on this for over a years and I’m so glad we were able to have a good debate. I’m excited about the code we endorsed.
II. Dean's Corner
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: President Walsh is here with Dean Kimberly Goff-Crews and Associate Dean Lepore. They requested that we move Dean’s Corner to the first agenda item tonight.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: I just wanted to talk about the thread on community about date rape and about how the college responds to date rape. Police Chief Lisa Barbin and I worked together to create a response. This will be out in the next few days. Student Life does provide many resources for students in these situations. Ashleigh and Spectrum will talk about LesBiTrans week and we’ll hear about Asian Awareness Month.
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: I’m troubled to have a conversation about the troubles of Dyke Ball with you because I went and it was a remarkable event. The word about safe partying was out there and there was even pizza in the Residence Halls. We did have 11 transports to the hospital and many more problems with alcohol that weren’t reported. This is the 2nd year with a large number of transports. We find ourselves at a difficult time as a College since we want you to have fun but also to be safe. This heavy episodic drinking also occurs for Tower Court. There is a lot of reliability for the party planners. It is blatantly unsafe. Spectrum and the Office of Residential Life have tried to keep this from occurring and nothing has worked so far.
We have decided to suspend large parties on campus until we can decide how to deal with this.
We have to prevent you from this risk. Fundamentally we have to do this and we are worried about your safety. I think some of you saw the email from the Chief of Police online. They have tried everything they know to keep you safe and they have reached their limits in keeping you safe.
We also want to know why people are drinking so much. Today we met with some Cabinet members and some members of Spectrum. We will be addressing this immediately. The real issue is around safety, not publicity. We have come to the limit of what we can deal with. We want you to have a better, more safe social life.
I think some of you may have seen the article in the Boston Herald. The headline was “Wellesley Girls Gone Wild.” That was one of at least 8 or 9 stories in the news. We have a reputation to guard. We have to also look at administrative staff. Alums have called us, applicants have dropped out of the applicant pool. There are also strange people sending hate mail to President Walsh.
We are dealing with the issue of alcohol transports. It doesn’t help our reputation as a college. Today’s paper linked it to the Rolling Stone article and the “Fuck Truck.” We have to stop this reputation on campus. We have to be conscious of this issue. It’s completely unfair to be portrayed like this in the media. The consequences are pretty significant. We’ll be working with this for several months. I want you to be aware of this as well. We’ll establish a committee to look into this committee. We’ll conduct surveys with outside groups and focus groups. We want to know why people are pre-partying and learn about that culture. We wanted to let you know our thinking in the Deans office. There are a lot of media around. Media were dressed as nurses in the emergency room. They took a picture of one of our students. Direct media to Mary Ann Hill. There will be follow up stories.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: Mary Ann wants you to know that reporters will not represent you accurately. Reporters put your words in their context; send media to Mary Ann Hill.
Natalie Archibald, Tower: This is actually an issue I spoke about before coming here tonight. I think the biggest concern is the reputation that we’re conservative and women. Although it’s a problem, it’s not a problem as big as it is at other campuses. The problem is that Wellesley’s not used to this. It’s not that these actions should be condoned, but we need to realize that this will be an issue unless you start searching individual rooms. This is an issue everywhere and is sometimes worse other places. It’s Dyke Ball, the big events. We don’t pay attention when there are smaller events. The focus is on these events. This is a hard problem to solve and to pinpoint. The media focuses on this because it’s Dyke Ball in Boston, a conservative city. There are too many layers to this, please look at this from all aspects. This is a concern many people have. I don’t think we should take this so reactionarily. People don’t come here to have fun.
I’m chair of a few events. How will this affect other parties?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: We’re not seeing as many transports from other parties. Looking at the stats, we’re just talking about Tower Court and Dyke Ball. You’re right, there are worse problems at other schools. But, there is a rise in drinking and women in general. This is crisis mode when we feel we can’t protect you. I totally respect you and your opinion, but it’s still really bad for us. It would be great to say that we don’t have as many problems as other schools.
Diana Chapman Walsh, President of the College: I agree with Dean Kim, we are sophisticated and can argue the many layers of this problem. We cannot control the media spin. When something like this happens, it is out there forever. It incrementally destroys our reputation. This is on the front page of a major paper. We can all bash the credibility of the Boston Herald, but other papers will pick it up. How do we explain this to reporters? Why is this one of 2 college-sanctioned events that people have to get transported to the hospital? All that nuance you spoke about, I don’t care about it. This has to stop.
It is my responsibility to stop this negative portrayal of the college. The only way I know to stop this is to stop the parties.
Natalie Archibald, Tower: I agree that our reputation is important. But I hope we aren’t overly aggressive. We have to be careful about how to handle this. I’m a student here and I am responsible. We need to take this slowly. Social life is part of academic life. Our reputation is extremely important and we have to be careful how to deal with the media. I know it shouldn’t be accepted but I don’t think suspending parties is the answer. Let’s handle this slowly and carefully.
Crystal Jin, Director of On-Campus Affairs: I wanted to respond. This is a big deal. You can’t compare this to other parties or us to other schools. We don’t send 11 people to the hospitals from society parties. With such a big number from a relatively small school it is unsafe. I don’t agree with ResHall staff searching rooms or anything that drastic. People have to feel safe here. It’s unhealthy for people not to feel safe here.
Kelly O’Connor, Director of Student Activities: I just wanted to mention that students think of the administrative aspect. If it is foreseeable that something tragic could happen at one of these events then we are liable as a college. If we don’t do something about this and don’t acknowledge the transports this is a problem. We have to do something to address this problem and we can’t continue to allow this to escalate.
Ariella Huff, Claflin: Has there been any discussion about reviewing the alcohol policies? As someone who comes from a country with different alcohol attitudes, I just wanted to point out the societal differences and how the attitudes concerning alcohol are so different here. It may contribute to some of the problems we have.
What does it mean to suspend parties until these questions have been addressed?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: Until we figure out how to manage the trend.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: There is a committee with an education subcommittee and we will be presenting revisions to Senate later this month. The policy is really only one piece of the alcohol issues on campus. We’ve looked at research and how to shift a culture. Get in touch with me if you’d like to sit on that committee.
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: I just want to stress of the importance of these decisions. Coming from the Budgetary Affairs Committee, we look very carefully at who applies here. We need students to apply here and the bad PR affects us in a very real way. I’m sure this will be discussed at BAC. It’s equally important not to feel like we can’t have fun here. Keeping that in mind, we need to focus on this issue. This is something that would’ve affected my decision to come to Wellesley. It’s a negotiation already to come to Wellesley, with 11 articles we need to not only think of ourselves, but the future.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Just to play devil’s advocate on the admissions part. I can’t imagine explaining to a prospie why we’ve had to ban large parties. How are we going to sit down with people who want to throw Dyke Ball, Tower Court? We have to address this problem and handle this more safely. We need to do this expediently and the Deans agree. All I can offer is that we need to help out as much as possible. How are we going to? There have been issues with the alcohol policy. We need to help since this decision has been made. I know that students approach us and say they need one night to party since they work so hard. I hope we can regain our party privileges.
Ashleigh Georgia, Multicultural Affairs Coordinator: I am sorry for the days that you are having because I can only imagine. President Walsh, if you need help responding to random hate mail I’d like to offer my assistance although that may create more liabilities. Ha!
Seriously, can we tell people that this ban is about Tower Court and Dyke Ball? Or does it affect other events?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: Whatever large events that are on those scales. We’ll look, but now it’s just the big events.
Ashleigh Georgia, MAC: As a senior, 2 years ago there was another press issue with the filming of Mona Lisa Smile. President Walsh wrote a letter to the Boston Globe and it was comforting. I’m hugely upset about the portrayal of Wellesley; it’s unfair and incredibly sexist. I realize it’s a problem. Do you have an idea of how we can address this publicly?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: I did talk to Mary Ann Hill and she’s thinking about how to deal with this on the offense. She’s thinking strategically.
Diana Chapman Walsh, President of the College: It has been suggested that we hire a PR specialist. Mona Lisa Smile was a cakewalk in comparison to this. Where is the high ground for us?
Shelly Anand, McAfee: Last year I applied because of our academic reputation, not the social atmosphere. If there were more events I think the binge drinking would go down. I think that right now I feel that we’ll all at risk due to our diminishing reputation. It’s shocking for society to see women partying. We have to adjust to that.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: One question that comes up is a size question. Such a large percentage of students go to these 2 huge parties. Why aren’t other parties larger? What does that mean? How realistic are your choices in regards to this?
Ashira Greene, Claflin: This is really upsetting. I’m sorry that the Administration has to deal with this. I just want to say that I see 3 issues: body image, booze, and boys. Body image is the dark side of the “Women Who Will.” I was in conversation with someone before who mentioned that she wouldn’t eat all day because she knew that she’d be consuming a large amount of calories in alcohol. Boys made the girls here act weird, whether you’re flirting or hating.
Emily Oxford, CG Secretary/Treasurer: I am so upset about this issue; it makes me physically sick to think that parties have been canceled. I recognize that the chronic binge drinking is a problem to solve, and I think it can be done without canceling parties. I agree with Shelly that if we had more than 2 big parties a year the need for binge drinking would decrease. I feel very, very strongly about this and will do absolutely anything to help solve this problem. I didn’t come to college only to learn, I came to also enjoy four years with friends. Sometimes that means going to parties.
We are and should be concerned about the way we are portrayed in the media. However, it is our responsibility as Wellesley Women to not accept the societal norm and fight the media. We can’t let them dictate our behavior.
I personally have heard of cases of Wellesley students going to the hospital and not receiving any treatment because it wasn’t warranted, they were sent as a precaution. I think we need more responders on campus who are trained to differentiate between drunkenness and possible alcohol poisoning. I’d be interested to look into student involvement –possibly a student EMT service—which could help combat the number of transports, which often aren’t necessary but happen because our infirmary is ill-equipped to handle an influx of students.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: There is protocol that nurses follow to know when students have to go or not to the hospital. I don’t think we could change that.
Emily Oxford, CG Secretary/Treasurer: Also, what exactly does it mean for a party to be sanctioned by the College?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: I think it’s any event that we hold on campus that utilizes Wellesley resources.
Fiona Cousland, Beebe: I can think of a large party coming up—the first-year formal? Will that be affected?
Kelly O’Connor, Director of Student Activities: No.
Suilin Yap, Japan Club: I’d like to share a personal experience dealing with media relations. I saw two camera people yesterday. What action should we take when we see members of the media?
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: The question is: “If you are approached by the media or if you are filmed what can you do?”
Suilin Yap, Japan Club: Do they have the right to come onto campus and film? Do they have to get permission to film?
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: What I recommend is that you report them to campus police. If you are in public space they have a right to film you though, but do report them.
Motion to close the speakers list.
Motion carries.
Nanki Marwah, Freeman: I want to thank everyone to make the efforts to prevent these problems. I just have a logistical question. Were any of the transports non-Wellesley students?
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: There was one, but we’re trying to figure out if our figures from Health Services include that one. All students who were transported are improving now.
Nanki Marwah, Freeman: We do hire extra security for these events and there is more patrolling going on. Would we get the same number of incidences if the smaller parties were patrolled in the same way?
Cara Williams: Could this be a good time to launch the CG service project into the press?
Janet Hung, ASU: ASU will be working with admissions and will speak to prospective students much like last year with Katie Palmer. The problem was not that it happened, but whether the college would issue a statement. It’s disturbing to see student comments misquoted in the media without a public statement put out by the College.
Andrea Swartz, Shafer: We have to attack this from the safety perspective and we have to react to the media. The third component would be reacting to students. I agree with Emily that we have to be Wellesley Women who have fun, like the majority of students who attended the party. I don’t want us to be portrayed as perfect either. We need to portray ourselves realistically. It would be the most productive way. We study and we party.
Laura Nelson, Pomeroy: I’ve never seen a more happy campus than on Sunday at brunch. Most people were safe and had fun. There is a lot of fear with the patrols. If we could lessen the stigma of the campus patrol and encourage people to come out more, but not necessarily drink more I think that’d be good. There was definitely an underground party culture. I think that the name “Dyke Ball” is also inherently sensational. We don’t want to sacrifice our ability to have pride in being Wellesley Women but we don’t want to get rid of parties.
Samira Vachani, Pomeroy: Thank you President Walsh and the Deans for addressing this problem. I can’t think of a comparable event in the area when people come out to celebrate sexuality. I hope we find a way to have events like this in the future.
Cindy Kung, Davis: I appreciate all the efforts to make the event safe. I was under the impression that we’d get pizza. Some people depended on the pizza for dinner and it wasn’t there. This caused some drinking on an empty stomach.
Kris Niendorf, Director of Residential and Campus Life: There was pizza in 8 halls, the halls that requested it. Next year we’ll get more if students liked it.
Hannah Ellenson, Hillel: I think there are 2 major issues: 1 that there aren’t enough ways to relieve stress and 2 that we don’t have a good idea between being drunk and severely, dangerously intoxicated. This is screaming for education.
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: I would say that this was one of the most enjoyable, light-hearted events I’ve attended at Wellesley. It’s important to keep in mind that most students weren’t involved with this. In terms of PR, we must deal with this quickly and specifically. Please incorporate that it’s okay to have a good time and not feel guilty. I’m not trying to negate what you have to do, but please defend the event itself and that it’s okay for students to have a good time. As a junior, it was one of the best events I’ve attended here.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Let us know what we need to do because from what I’ve heard people really liked the party. The concern I have with publicity is that we have heterosexuals and homosexuals on campus and it is true that some girls do dress provocatively for this party. We can’t ignore this aspect of our community. For the underclasswomen, we went through the Rolling Stone article. We got through so much to come here because that article came our senior year of high school.
Wow, we have a lot to do. We had the Honor Code Convention and now this and now Senate. Here’s what I’m proposing to you. I really hope we can buzz through this agenda. If you have further questions, but please stick to the time limits. E-mail the speakers if you have more questions. It’d be best for all of us if you do it like this for tonight.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: I just wanted to talk about the thread on community about date rape and about how the college responds to date rape. Police Chief Lisa Barbin and I worked together to create a response. This will be out in the next few days. Student Life does provide many resources for students in these situations. Ashleigh and Spectrum will talk about LesBiTrans week and we’ll hear about Asian Awareness Month.
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: I’m troubled to have a conversation about the troubles of Dyke Ball with you because I went and it was a remarkable event. The word about safe partying was out there and there was even pizza in the Residence Halls. We did have 11 transports to the hospital and many more problems with alcohol that weren’t reported. This is the 2nd year with a large number of transports. We find ourselves at a difficult time as a College since we want you to have fun but also to be safe. This heavy episodic drinking also occurs for Tower Court. There is a lot of reliability for the party planners. It is blatantly unsafe. Spectrum and the Office of Residential Life have tried to keep this from occurring and nothing has worked so far.
We have decided to suspend large parties on campus until we can decide how to deal with this.
We have to prevent you from this risk. Fundamentally we have to do this and we are worried about your safety. I think some of you saw the email from the Chief of Police online. They have tried everything they know to keep you safe and they have reached their limits in keeping you safe.
We also want to know why people are drinking so much. Today we met with some Cabinet members and some members of Spectrum. We will be addressing this immediately. The real issue is around safety, not publicity. We have come to the limit of what we can deal with. We want you to have a better, more safe social life.
I think some of you may have seen the article in the Boston Herald. The headline was “Wellesley Girls Gone Wild.” That was one of at least 8 or 9 stories in the news. We have a reputation to guard. We have to also look at administrative staff. Alums have called us, applicants have dropped out of the applicant pool. There are also strange people sending hate mail to President Walsh.
We are dealing with the issue of alcohol transports. It doesn’t help our reputation as a college. Today’s paper linked it to the Rolling Stone article and the “Fuck Truck.” We have to stop this reputation on campus. We have to be conscious of this issue. It’s completely unfair to be portrayed like this in the media. The consequences are pretty significant. We’ll be working with this for several months. I want you to be aware of this as well. We’ll establish a committee to look into this committee. We’ll conduct surveys with outside groups and focus groups. We want to know why people are pre-partying and learn about that culture. We wanted to let you know our thinking in the Deans office. There are a lot of media around. Media were dressed as nurses in the emergency room. They took a picture of one of our students. Direct media to Mary Ann Hill. There will be follow up stories.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: Mary Ann wants you to know that reporters will not represent you accurately. Reporters put your words in their context; send media to Mary Ann Hill.
Natalie Archibald, Tower: This is actually an issue I spoke about before coming here tonight. I think the biggest concern is the reputation that we’re conservative and women. Although it’s a problem, it’s not a problem as big as it is at other campuses. The problem is that Wellesley’s not used to this. It’s not that these actions should be condoned, but we need to realize that this will be an issue unless you start searching individual rooms. This is an issue everywhere and is sometimes worse other places. It’s Dyke Ball, the big events. We don’t pay attention when there are smaller events. The focus is on these events. This is a hard problem to solve and to pinpoint. The media focuses on this because it’s Dyke Ball in Boston, a conservative city. There are too many layers to this, please look at this from all aspects. This is a concern many people have. I don’t think we should take this so reactionarily. People don’t come here to have fun.
I’m chair of a few events. How will this affect other parties?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: We’re not seeing as many transports from other parties. Looking at the stats, we’re just talking about Tower Court and Dyke Ball. You’re right, there are worse problems at other schools. But, there is a rise in drinking and women in general. This is crisis mode when we feel we can’t protect you. I totally respect you and your opinion, but it’s still really bad for us. It would be great to say that we don’t have as many problems as other schools.
Diana Chapman Walsh, President of the College: I agree with Dean Kim, we are sophisticated and can argue the many layers of this problem. We cannot control the media spin. When something like this happens, it is out there forever. It incrementally destroys our reputation. This is on the front page of a major paper. We can all bash the credibility of the Boston Herald, but other papers will pick it up. How do we explain this to reporters? Why is this one of 2 college-sanctioned events that people have to get transported to the hospital? All that nuance you spoke about, I don’t care about it. This has to stop.
It is my responsibility to stop this negative portrayal of the college. The only way I know to stop this is to stop the parties.
Natalie Archibald, Tower: I agree that our reputation is important. But I hope we aren’t overly aggressive. We have to be careful about how to handle this. I’m a student here and I am responsible. We need to take this slowly. Social life is part of academic life. Our reputation is extremely important and we have to be careful how to deal with the media. I know it shouldn’t be accepted but I don’t think suspending parties is the answer. Let’s handle this slowly and carefully.
Crystal Jin, Director of On-Campus Affairs: I wanted to respond. This is a big deal. You can’t compare this to other parties or us to other schools. We don’t send 11 people to the hospitals from society parties. With such a big number from a relatively small school it is unsafe. I don’t agree with ResHall staff searching rooms or anything that drastic. People have to feel safe here. It’s unhealthy for people not to feel safe here.
Kelly O’Connor, Director of Student Activities: I just wanted to mention that students think of the administrative aspect. If it is foreseeable that something tragic could happen at one of these events then we are liable as a college. If we don’t do something about this and don’t acknowledge the transports this is a problem. We have to do something to address this problem and we can’t continue to allow this to escalate.
Ariella Huff, Claflin: Has there been any discussion about reviewing the alcohol policies? As someone who comes from a country with different alcohol attitudes, I just wanted to point out the societal differences and how the attitudes concerning alcohol are so different here. It may contribute to some of the problems we have.
What does it mean to suspend parties until these questions have been addressed?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: Until we figure out how to manage the trend.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: There is a committee with an education subcommittee and we will be presenting revisions to Senate later this month. The policy is really only one piece of the alcohol issues on campus. We’ve looked at research and how to shift a culture. Get in touch with me if you’d like to sit on that committee.
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: I just want to stress of the importance of these decisions. Coming from the Budgetary Affairs Committee, we look very carefully at who applies here. We need students to apply here and the bad PR affects us in a very real way. I’m sure this will be discussed at BAC. It’s equally important not to feel like we can’t have fun here. Keeping that in mind, we need to focus on this issue. This is something that would’ve affected my decision to come to Wellesley. It’s a negotiation already to come to Wellesley, with 11 articles we need to not only think of ourselves, but the future.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Just to play devil’s advocate on the admissions part. I can’t imagine explaining to a prospie why we’ve had to ban large parties. How are we going to sit down with people who want to throw Dyke Ball, Tower Court? We have to address this problem and handle this more safely. We need to do this expediently and the Deans agree. All I can offer is that we need to help out as much as possible. How are we going to? There have been issues with the alcohol policy. We need to help since this decision has been made. I know that students approach us and say they need one night to party since they work so hard. I hope we can regain our party privileges.
Ashleigh Georgia, Multicultural Affairs Coordinator: I am sorry for the days that you are having because I can only imagine. President Walsh, if you need help responding to random hate mail I’d like to offer my assistance although that may create more liabilities. Ha!
Seriously, can we tell people that this ban is about Tower Court and Dyke Ball? Or does it affect other events?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: Whatever large events that are on those scales. We’ll look, but now it’s just the big events.
Ashleigh Georgia, MAC: As a senior, 2 years ago there was another press issue with the filming of Mona Lisa Smile. President Walsh wrote a letter to the Boston Globe and it was comforting. I’m hugely upset about the portrayal of Wellesley; it’s unfair and incredibly sexist. I realize it’s a problem. Do you have an idea of how we can address this publicly?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: I did talk to Mary Ann Hill and she’s thinking about how to deal with this on the offense. She’s thinking strategically.
Diana Chapman Walsh, President of the College: It has been suggested that we hire a PR specialist. Mona Lisa Smile was a cakewalk in comparison to this. Where is the high ground for us?
Shelly Anand, McAfee: Last year I applied because of our academic reputation, not the social atmosphere. If there were more events I think the binge drinking would go down. I think that right now I feel that we’ll all at risk due to our diminishing reputation. It’s shocking for society to see women partying. We have to adjust to that.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: One question that comes up is a size question. Such a large percentage of students go to these 2 huge parties. Why aren’t other parties larger? What does that mean? How realistic are your choices in regards to this?
Ashira Greene, Claflin: This is really upsetting. I’m sorry that the Administration has to deal with this. I just want to say that I see 3 issues: body image, booze, and boys. Body image is the dark side of the “Women Who Will.” I was in conversation with someone before who mentioned that she wouldn’t eat all day because she knew that she’d be consuming a large amount of calories in alcohol. Boys made the girls here act weird, whether you’re flirting or hating.
Emily Oxford, CG Secretary/Treasurer: I am so upset about this issue; it makes me physically sick to think that parties have been canceled. I recognize that the chronic binge drinking is a problem to solve, and I think it can be done without canceling parties. I agree with Shelly that if we had more than 2 big parties a year the need for binge drinking would decrease. I feel very, very strongly about this and will do absolutely anything to help solve this problem. I didn’t come to college only to learn, I came to also enjoy four years with friends. Sometimes that means going to parties.
We are and should be concerned about the way we are portrayed in the media. However, it is our responsibility as Wellesley Women to not accept the societal norm and fight the media. We can’t let them dictate our behavior.
I personally have heard of cases of Wellesley students going to the hospital and not receiving any treatment because it wasn’t warranted, they were sent as a precaution. I think we need more responders on campus who are trained to differentiate between drunkenness and possible alcohol poisoning. I’d be interested to look into student involvement –possibly a student EMT service—which could help combat the number of transports, which often aren’t necessary but happen because our infirmary is ill-equipped to handle an influx of students.
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: There is protocol that nurses follow to know when students have to go or not to the hospital. I don’t think we could change that.
Emily Oxford, CG Secretary/Treasurer: Also, what exactly does it mean for a party to be sanctioned by the College?
Kimberly Goff-Crews, Dean of Students: I think it’s any event that we hold on campus that utilizes Wellesley resources.
Fiona Cousland, Beebe: I can think of a large party coming up—the first-year formal? Will that be affected?
Kelly O’Connor, Director of Student Activities: No.
Suilin Yap, Japan Club: I’d like to share a personal experience dealing with media relations. I saw two camera people yesterday. What action should we take when we see members of the media?
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: The question is: “If you are approached by the media or if you are filmed what can you do?”
Suilin Yap, Japan Club: Do they have the right to come onto campus and film? Do they have to get permission to film?
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: What I recommend is that you report them to campus police. If you are in public space they have a right to film you though, but do report them.
Motion to close the speakers list.
Motion carries.
Nanki Marwah, Freeman: I want to thank everyone to make the efforts to prevent these problems. I just have a logistical question. Were any of the transports non-Wellesley students?
Michelle Lepore, Associate Dean of Students: There was one, but we’re trying to figure out if our figures from Health Services include that one. All students who were transported are improving now.
Nanki Marwah, Freeman: We do hire extra security for these events and there is more patrolling going on. Would we get the same number of incidences if the smaller parties were patrolled in the same way?
Cara Williams: Could this be a good time to launch the CG service project into the press?
Janet Hung, ASU: ASU will be working with admissions and will speak to prospective students much like last year with Katie Palmer. The problem was not that it happened, but whether the college would issue a statement. It’s disturbing to see student comments misquoted in the media without a public statement put out by the College.
Andrea Swartz, Shafer: We have to attack this from the safety perspective and we have to react to the media. The third component would be reacting to students. I agree with Emily that we have to be Wellesley Women who have fun, like the majority of students who attended the party. I don’t want us to be portrayed as perfect either. We need to portray ourselves realistically. It would be the most productive way. We study and we party.
Laura Nelson, Pomeroy: I’ve never seen a more happy campus than on Sunday at brunch. Most people were safe and had fun. There is a lot of fear with the patrols. If we could lessen the stigma of the campus patrol and encourage people to come out more, but not necessarily drink more I think that’d be good. There was definitely an underground party culture. I think that the name “Dyke Ball” is also inherently sensational. We don’t want to sacrifice our ability to have pride in being Wellesley Women but we don’t want to get rid of parties.
Samira Vachani, Pomeroy: Thank you President Walsh and the Deans for addressing this problem. I can’t think of a comparable event in the area when people come out to celebrate sexuality. I hope we find a way to have events like this in the future.
Cindy Kung, Davis: I appreciate all the efforts to make the event safe. I was under the impression that we’d get pizza. Some people depended on the pizza for dinner and it wasn’t there. This caused some drinking on an empty stomach.
Kris Niendorf, Director of Residential and Campus Life: There was pizza in 8 halls, the halls that requested it. Next year we’ll get more if students liked it.
Hannah Ellenson, Hillel: I think there are 2 major issues: 1 that there aren’t enough ways to relieve stress and 2 that we don’t have a good idea between being drunk and severely, dangerously intoxicated. This is screaming for education.
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: I would say that this was one of the most enjoyable, light-hearted events I’ve attended at Wellesley. It’s important to keep in mind that most students weren’t involved with this. In terms of PR, we must deal with this quickly and specifically. Please incorporate that it’s okay to have a good time and not feel guilty. I’m not trying to negate what you have to do, but please defend the event itself and that it’s okay for students to have a good time. As a junior, it was one of the best events I’ve attended here.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Let us know what we need to do because from what I’ve heard people really liked the party. The concern I have with publicity is that we have heterosexuals and homosexuals on campus and it is true that some girls do dress provocatively for this party. We can’t ignore this aspect of our community. For the underclasswomen, we went through the Rolling Stone article. We got through so much to come here because that article came our senior year of high school.
Wow, we have a lot to do. We had the Honor Code Convention and now this and now Senate. Here’s what I’m proposing to you. I really hope we can buzz through this agenda. If you have further questions, but please stick to the time limits. E-mail the speakers if you have more questions. It’d be best for all of us if you do it like this for tonight.
III. Old Business
First we’ll vote on old business.
Motion to approve the SOAC Constitutional Changes pertaining to the role of the Vice President.
Motion carries.
Alex Kim, CG Vice President: last week students for a free Tibet came last week. Do you have any questions about confirming their constitutional status?
Motion to approve the Students for a Free Tibet constitution.
Motion carries.
Motion to approve elections committee members Christina Seibold, Anna Basevich, and Meri Smith.
Motion carries
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Thank you for completing such important business. Next we’ll have Kimberly chin with some very important constitutional changes regarding elections.
Motion to approve the SOAC Constitutional Changes pertaining to the role of the Vice President.
Motion carries.
Alex Kim, CG Vice President: last week students for a free Tibet came last week. Do you have any questions about confirming their constitutional status?
Motion to approve the Students for a Free Tibet constitution.
Motion carries.
Motion to approve elections committee members Christina Seibold, Anna Basevich, and Meri Smith.
Motion carries
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Thank you for completing such important business. Next we’ll have Kimberly chin with some very important constitutional changes regarding elections.
IV. New Business
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: I had handouts that were incorrect. I’ll send them to Emily Oxford, CG Secretary/Treasurer so you’ll get them with the minutes.
This is a constitutional amendment to Article 9, Section 6 of the College Government Constitution—Election of officers.
If you remember a few weeks ago Michelle brought up the eligibility to vote. You’ll note that we haven’t acted in accordance with our current constitution because some changes were made several years ago that weren’t actually implemented into the constitution.
The current constitution reads: ““All full-time, degree-seeking, student activity fee-paying students shall be eligible to vote;”
After consulting with the registrar we have determined the source of inconsistency. Currently there are 3 things you have to have to vote—the only students who currently fulfill these are on-campus students. Some Davis scholars are part time but they do pay the student activity fee and seek degrees. Students on academic leave are full time and degree seeking but they don’t pay the SAF. In the past we have allowed Davis Scholars and students on academic leave to vote. If we approve this then we will continue allowing these groups of students to vote but it will be constitution.
The proposed amendment would read: “All degree-seeking, and full-time or student activity fee-paying students shall be eligible to vote;”
By rewording the clause we allow academic leave students and Davis Scholars to vote as long as they are degree seeking and full time. Also, it would allow SAF paying part time Davis Scholars to vote.
Chailee Mann-Stadt, Chief Justice: I just wanted to tell you that my first year as a senator we did this but it wasn’t incorporated into the constitution.
Nawar Najeeb, Tower: How long can you be on academic leave?
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: I talked to the registrar and this is all according to her definition. I’m not sure how to answer your question, but we are referring to the registrar’s judgment. We felt it was necessary to defer to her. I can talk to her to find out the answer though.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: I urge you to use the term “academic leave” instead of “abroad” because students may be studying at another college in the US.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: If you come back and accept the changes, we would ask for the list of names in accordance with voting qualifications from the registrar.
Janet Hung, ASU: Do the people on academic leave know who to vote for since they aren’t on campus? Do they have full knowledge of the statements of intent?
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: It’s the same problem we’d have on campus. The elections committee tries to make sure that all students know about the candidates and issues. In my own opinion we need to improve with information both on and off campus. We can put out something. Ashleigh is in charge of the academic leave students. However, it’s up for discussion every year since it’s not in the constitution.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: There are many students who are on leave who have access to first class. There are conferences for the candidates on everyone’s desktops. We’re trying to change the problem of people not knowing about elections and this applies to academic leave students as well.
Catherine Day, SPEC Chair: In terms of knowing who they are voting for, it is important for the students who are abroad to know because they are returning to the winners and it’s important that students feel part of the community.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: I just want to go over the Election Day procedures for you so you know how voting will work this year. In response to student concern about how elections were run last year. Jamie and I have thought about how we can improve elections this year.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: We may want to share those with you next week. Look forward to that next week.
This is a constitutional amendment to Article 9, Section 6 of the College Government Constitution—Election of officers.
If you remember a few weeks ago Michelle brought up the eligibility to vote. You’ll note that we haven’t acted in accordance with our current constitution because some changes were made several years ago that weren’t actually implemented into the constitution.
The current constitution reads: ““All full-time, degree-seeking, student activity fee-paying students shall be eligible to vote;”
After consulting with the registrar we have determined the source of inconsistency. Currently there are 3 things you have to have to vote—the only students who currently fulfill these are on-campus students. Some Davis scholars are part time but they do pay the student activity fee and seek degrees. Students on academic leave are full time and degree seeking but they don’t pay the SAF. In the past we have allowed Davis Scholars and students on academic leave to vote. If we approve this then we will continue allowing these groups of students to vote but it will be constitution.
The proposed amendment would read: “All degree-seeking, and full-time or student activity fee-paying students shall be eligible to vote;”
By rewording the clause we allow academic leave students and Davis Scholars to vote as long as they are degree seeking and full time. Also, it would allow SAF paying part time Davis Scholars to vote.
Chailee Mann-Stadt, Chief Justice: I just wanted to tell you that my first year as a senator we did this but it wasn’t incorporated into the constitution.
Nawar Najeeb, Tower: How long can you be on academic leave?
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: I talked to the registrar and this is all according to her definition. I’m not sure how to answer your question, but we are referring to the registrar’s judgment. We felt it was necessary to defer to her. I can talk to her to find out the answer though.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: I urge you to use the term “academic leave” instead of “abroad” because students may be studying at another college in the US.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: If you come back and accept the changes, we would ask for the list of names in accordance with voting qualifications from the registrar.
Janet Hung, ASU: Do the people on academic leave know who to vote for since they aren’t on campus? Do they have full knowledge of the statements of intent?
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: It’s the same problem we’d have on campus. The elections committee tries to make sure that all students know about the candidates and issues. In my own opinion we need to improve with information both on and off campus. We can put out something. Ashleigh is in charge of the academic leave students. However, it’s up for discussion every year since it’s not in the constitution.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: There are many students who are on leave who have access to first class. There are conferences for the candidates on everyone’s desktops. We’re trying to change the problem of people not knowing about elections and this applies to academic leave students as well.
Catherine Day, SPEC Chair: In terms of knowing who they are voting for, it is important for the students who are abroad to know because they are returning to the winners and it’s important that students feel part of the community.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: I just want to go over the Election Day procedures for you so you know how voting will work this year. In response to student concern about how elections were run last year. Jamie and I have thought about how we can improve elections this year.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: We may want to share those with you next week. Look forward to that next week.
V. Open Discussion
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: We’re going to come back to report on our SOFC spy mission to Harvard. These ladies from SOFC will give you an overview of how they operate and compare that to our system.
Suilin Yap, SOFC Senator: At Harvard the application process for funding is completely different than ours. They have half of the amount we have to allocate to student organizations and they don’t have formal budgeting. Anyone or any group can apply. On Tuesdays they have interviews with the Undergraduate Committee, the UC. The interviewer comes up with a proposal.
Nadine Abraham, SOFC Senator: After that, they vote on proposals as a team. Their decisions go to their version of Senate, the UC. We learned that they have electronic submissions and we’d like to incorporate that online using FirstClass. For Friday’s budgeting deadline it’s too soon to implement that. We’d have to work out the logistics of the Honor Code statement signature if we move to an online system.
Cortni Jones, SOFC member: I’m an at large member of SOFC. We found that Wellesley SOFC rocks because 1. We are objective and base decisions on facts. 2. We are more efficient, timely, objective, and have more money. 3. Also our bursar sits in on all discussions and their treasurer has minimal connection to the dispersal. 4. Tracking, we know exactly how much money we have given and keep track of receipts. They don’t do that there.
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: On Wednesday we are going to Brandies and we will have another update next week.
Nanki Marwah, Freeman: When are budgets due?
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: Friday, March 11 at 5pm.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Thank you Lindsey and SOFC for all your work. Now we’ll hear from Alex Kim.
Alex Kim, CG Vice President: All SOAC constituted orgs must submit the reactivation forms each year. These forms require the signature of incoming president, treasurer, and senator if applicable. There will be organization cabinets allocated next year, but House Councils will not receive these cabinets in the new campus center. The CPLA core, MAC OT, and GenJudic open positions will be publicized soon. The incoming cabinet will have new committees as well. SBOG needs new and old SBOGgies working Spring Weekend. Go to the SOAC application conference for more information. The last committee I appoint students to is the Pinanski Prize committee, which will be 4 seniors. Any student can write a letter of recommendation for a professor to be honored.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Thank you Alex. I’m looking forward to getting new student representatives. Senators, apply for these positions! Encourage your friends to apply!
Members of WEED are here tonight to get feedback from you concerning their Environmental Policy Statement that they’ve been working on all year.
Jessica Van Houten: WEED is the Wellesley Environmental and Energy Defense We are multi-constituency meaning we have students, faculty, staff and union employees as members. Ariel is the president, Kate is the vice president, and Claire is secretary.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: We’re planning to hear what you have to say about the wording and ideas behind this policy. We’re meeting with Pat Byrne on March 17 and will return to you on March 28. The following week you’ll be voting whether or not to give it an official vote of endorsement.
Claire Nelson: I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about our reasons for this policy and why we this is something that we feel we must address now as a college. The reasons are fourfold. And it all starts with our work with WEED.
As many of you know, WEED was created four years ago to tackle environmental problems on campus. Since then, we’ve worked hard to get the college to acknowledge the environment and have made significant progress and are now in charge of the recycling program along with the office of Environmental Health and Safety in the residence halls and at the Tanner and Ruhlman Conferences for two straight years. We have done extensive research on the status of paper use, energy consumption, and composting on campus. This spring we also have a whole week of events planned around Earth Day, including a lecture by well-known environmentalist Bill McKibben. But looking out for the environment is about more than just recycling, information gathering, and fun events and we’re here today because we are advocating for the creation of an official institutional commitment that acknowledges our responsibility to the environment and that goes beyond the desire of a few motivated students.
The commitment we envision will take the form of an environmental policy statement that will guide the college long after we are gone, in making the most environmentally responsible decisions that are possible, given our resources. Additionally, we have proposed a Sustainability Advisory Committee, to be made up of staff, faculty, and students, which would research, initiate, and maintain programs that encourage sustainability and awareness on campus and will ultimately give authority to this policy.
Beyond our own experiences with WEED here at Wellesley, we are further motivated and inspired by the fact that many other colleges and universities have taken these steps we are suggesting. They have written and signed policy statements, hired sustainability coordinators, created an office for greening their campus, instituted recycling programs, and signed on to international commitments to promoting environmental sustainability in higher education, or some combination of the above to make their schools greener. In this context, Wellesley is years behind liberal arts schools that we consider ourselves competitive with, and also with larger state-funded universities that have neither the prestige nor the endowment that Wellesley enjoys.
Therefore, we think that it is vital that Wellesley does all it can to catch up with these schools…for the sake of the environment and for our reputation.
We have also considered the financial aspect of an environmental policy statement and its resulting commitments, and realize that there are constraints on where and how we spend our money. However, we believe that signing a statement, creating a committee, and embarking on projects that minimize our impact on the environment can be a sound business practice and we should give priority to those that are. We know that taking these measures we have lined out will save us money in the long run while maintaining the need to be financially conservative along the way. Recycling, green purchasing, and increased resource use efficiency will in fact save the college money in the long run, as it has in countless other institutions.
Finally, we are embarking on this process because we believe it is an educational imperative to include the environment in Wellesley’s pursuit of offering the best liberal arts education. We believe it is unacceptable for students to graduate with a degree from such a respected school as Wellesley without being made aware of their impact and connection with the environment here on campus and in the larger global context.
But at Wellesley, unless you take one of a few courses that fall under the Environmental Studies program, you will never have to think of the environment. You will never have to reconsider the length of your showers, the amount of waste you create, the amount of electricity you use. But you will always be reminded about issues in racial equality, gender equality, cultural and religious equality, and sexual equality as Wellesley takes these issues very seriously as an institution, and as they rightly should. But we believe that the environment must be a part of that list, as it affects everyone regardless of their race, gender, culture, religion, or sexuality. We believe students should be given the tools and the facilities to live in a sustainable manner; to recycle, conserve energy, and reduce waste and that the College should actively participate in promoting and enabling these opportunities. We, as a college should be educating women about what is happening to the environment outside the bubble and what they can do to help, even if it starts with what their environmental impact is on campus and how they can make subtle changes to reduce it.
At this time in history, we believe we can no longer afford to ignore this issue and cannot praise ourselves as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the nation if we do not acknowledge such a vital part of life and human society today. This policy would set us on the right track so that we will begin to find new ways that we can be part of the solution and not the problem.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: The Environmental Policy Statement that we are presenting tonight is a joint project between WEED and Beth DeSombre’s Environmental Policy Seminar that Claire and I took last fall. Along with Erin Usmen, we worked on this policy statement all of last semester. We wrote an original draft of the statement, drawing inspiration from similar policies from other colleges. We spent a great deal of time meeting with a number of administrators to further fine-tune the policy, including Pat Byrne, the VP of Administration and Planning, Andy Evans, the VP of Finance, Dean Kim, Tom Kane from Purchasing, Mike Dawley from the Physical Plant, Suzanne Howard from Environmental Health & Safety, and Diana Chapman Walsh. We also held two forums in which we got feedback from students and faculty.
We hope that the policy will make it to the Board of Trustees this semester, pending further approval by Pat Byrne and Diana. We are also in the process of establishing a Sustainability Advisory Committee, which Claire mentioned, that would advise the President on the implementation of this policy. The committee would include members of the administration whose work pertains to the environment, such as the director of Environmental Health & Safety, and staff from the Physical Plant, Motor Pool, and Grounds. Several faculty and student representatives will sit on the committee as well. This committee should be in place by the end of this semester.
Kate Doiron: If you could read over this statement (see attachments), please give us feedback. We’d like to further revise with your input to make this the best it can be.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: For the benefit of the senators, I should say that certain Cabinet members met with WEED last semester. We are really working on a well-constructed statement. Before Pat Byrne has the final say before presenting this to the trustees, we want students to have input. E-mail comments to Jessica Van Houten, the WEED senator. This is just for feedback.
Nawar Najeeb, Tower: I think this is a wonderful idea and Wellesley has a lot to offer. What institutions at Wellesley have done research?
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: Through speaking with students and the ES300 class with Professor DeSombre, which is the capstone for Environmental Studies majors. We’ve looked at greenhouse emissions and other data. Beth DeSombre is the faculty member of WEED. It’s not college-sanctioned information but we get our information from the College.
Chailee Mann-Stadt, Chief Justice: The part that says “use current data…” Should it say “obtain and use”?
Andrea Swartz: On that bullet point, maybe it should say “use current data to evaluate…”
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: It’s just trying to make sure that we know what the effects of our actions will be. We have been struggling with that sentence so any ideas are welcome.
Catherine Day: What is Jessica’s last name?
Jessica Van Houten: Van Houten.
Claire Nelson: This doesn’t hold the college itself to tangible requirements?
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: It works in conjunction with the sustainability policy committee. We realize that we shouldn’t have an empty policy. This is an ideological statement and the college will decide how to best incorporate that.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: Should there be a timeline in the statement? Should we push the college?
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: It’s a delicate balance to be firm but not too specific. The purpose of having the committee is to establish a timeline. It does come across is vague, but it needs to be.
Claire Nelson: The idea for this statement is that it will be around indefinitely. It’s a long term commitment to the ideology.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: What I’m afraid of is that because it is vague that the college won’t follow through with this once you graduate?
Jessica Van Houten: This is the first step with more to come. It needs to be vague at first.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: We can discuss further if we should input “yearly” for example.
Kelly O’Connor, Director of Student Activities: I think this is great. There is a difference between policies and goals. It does need to be something that the college can grasp and then make goals with dates. I would avoid dates in policies, leave the policy vague. It’s amazing that you have President Walsh’s approval now.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: The administration is supportive; we are working to get the trustee’s approval.
Nanki Marwah, Freeman: What trustee committee would receive this?
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: I think Building and Grounds?
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Pat Byrne would know, but we aren’t sure yet.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: Thank you for listening and please look over this with your constituents to get feedback for us. We want this to be the best it can be.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Please email Jessica with feedback. Thank you for staying attentive through so much tonight, we’ve had a long night together starting with the Honor Code Convention.
Suilin Yap, SOFC Senator: At Harvard the application process for funding is completely different than ours. They have half of the amount we have to allocate to student organizations and they don’t have formal budgeting. Anyone or any group can apply. On Tuesdays they have interviews with the Undergraduate Committee, the UC. The interviewer comes up with a proposal.
Nadine Abraham, SOFC Senator: After that, they vote on proposals as a team. Their decisions go to their version of Senate, the UC. We learned that they have electronic submissions and we’d like to incorporate that online using FirstClass. For Friday’s budgeting deadline it’s too soon to implement that. We’d have to work out the logistics of the Honor Code statement signature if we move to an online system.
Cortni Jones, SOFC member: I’m an at large member of SOFC. We found that Wellesley SOFC rocks because 1. We are objective and base decisions on facts. 2. We are more efficient, timely, objective, and have more money. 3. Also our bursar sits in on all discussions and their treasurer has minimal connection to the dispersal. 4. Tracking, we know exactly how much money we have given and keep track of receipts. They don’t do that there.
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: On Wednesday we are going to Brandies and we will have another update next week.
Nanki Marwah, Freeman: When are budgets due?
Lindsey Boylan, Bursar: Friday, March 11 at 5pm.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Thank you Lindsey and SOFC for all your work. Now we’ll hear from Alex Kim.
Alex Kim, CG Vice President: All SOAC constituted orgs must submit the reactivation forms each year. These forms require the signature of incoming president, treasurer, and senator if applicable. There will be organization cabinets allocated next year, but House Councils will not receive these cabinets in the new campus center. The CPLA core, MAC OT, and GenJudic open positions will be publicized soon. The incoming cabinet will have new committees as well. SBOG needs new and old SBOGgies working Spring Weekend. Go to the SOAC application conference for more information. The last committee I appoint students to is the Pinanski Prize committee, which will be 4 seniors. Any student can write a letter of recommendation for a professor to be honored.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Thank you Alex. I’m looking forward to getting new student representatives. Senators, apply for these positions! Encourage your friends to apply!
Members of WEED are here tonight to get feedback from you concerning their Environmental Policy Statement that they’ve been working on all year.
Jessica Van Houten: WEED is the Wellesley Environmental and Energy Defense We are multi-constituency meaning we have students, faculty, staff and union employees as members. Ariel is the president, Kate is the vice president, and Claire is secretary.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: We’re planning to hear what you have to say about the wording and ideas behind this policy. We’re meeting with Pat Byrne on March 17 and will return to you on March 28. The following week you’ll be voting whether or not to give it an official vote of endorsement.
Claire Nelson: I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about our reasons for this policy and why we this is something that we feel we must address now as a college. The reasons are fourfold. And it all starts with our work with WEED.
As many of you know, WEED was created four years ago to tackle environmental problems on campus. Since then, we’ve worked hard to get the college to acknowledge the environment and have made significant progress and are now in charge of the recycling program along with the office of Environmental Health and Safety in the residence halls and at the Tanner and Ruhlman Conferences for two straight years. We have done extensive research on the status of paper use, energy consumption, and composting on campus. This spring we also have a whole week of events planned around Earth Day, including a lecture by well-known environmentalist Bill McKibben. But looking out for the environment is about more than just recycling, information gathering, and fun events and we’re here today because we are advocating for the creation of an official institutional commitment that acknowledges our responsibility to the environment and that goes beyond the desire of a few motivated students.
The commitment we envision will take the form of an environmental policy statement that will guide the college long after we are gone, in making the most environmentally responsible decisions that are possible, given our resources. Additionally, we have proposed a Sustainability Advisory Committee, to be made up of staff, faculty, and students, which would research, initiate, and maintain programs that encourage sustainability and awareness on campus and will ultimately give authority to this policy.
Beyond our own experiences with WEED here at Wellesley, we are further motivated and inspired by the fact that many other colleges and universities have taken these steps we are suggesting. They have written and signed policy statements, hired sustainability coordinators, created an office for greening their campus, instituted recycling programs, and signed on to international commitments to promoting environmental sustainability in higher education, or some combination of the above to make their schools greener. In this context, Wellesley is years behind liberal arts schools that we consider ourselves competitive with, and also with larger state-funded universities that have neither the prestige nor the endowment that Wellesley enjoys.
Therefore, we think that it is vital that Wellesley does all it can to catch up with these schools…for the sake of the environment and for our reputation.
We have also considered the financial aspect of an environmental policy statement and its resulting commitments, and realize that there are constraints on where and how we spend our money. However, we believe that signing a statement, creating a committee, and embarking on projects that minimize our impact on the environment can be a sound business practice and we should give priority to those that are. We know that taking these measures we have lined out will save us money in the long run while maintaining the need to be financially conservative along the way. Recycling, green purchasing, and increased resource use efficiency will in fact save the college money in the long run, as it has in countless other institutions.
Finally, we are embarking on this process because we believe it is an educational imperative to include the environment in Wellesley’s pursuit of offering the best liberal arts education. We believe it is unacceptable for students to graduate with a degree from such a respected school as Wellesley without being made aware of their impact and connection with the environment here on campus and in the larger global context.
But at Wellesley, unless you take one of a few courses that fall under the Environmental Studies program, you will never have to think of the environment. You will never have to reconsider the length of your showers, the amount of waste you create, the amount of electricity you use. But you will always be reminded about issues in racial equality, gender equality, cultural and religious equality, and sexual equality as Wellesley takes these issues very seriously as an institution, and as they rightly should. But we believe that the environment must be a part of that list, as it affects everyone regardless of their race, gender, culture, religion, or sexuality. We believe students should be given the tools and the facilities to live in a sustainable manner; to recycle, conserve energy, and reduce waste and that the College should actively participate in promoting and enabling these opportunities. We, as a college should be educating women about what is happening to the environment outside the bubble and what they can do to help, even if it starts with what their environmental impact is on campus and how they can make subtle changes to reduce it.
At this time in history, we believe we can no longer afford to ignore this issue and cannot praise ourselves as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the nation if we do not acknowledge such a vital part of life and human society today. This policy would set us on the right track so that we will begin to find new ways that we can be part of the solution and not the problem.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: The Environmental Policy Statement that we are presenting tonight is a joint project between WEED and Beth DeSombre’s Environmental Policy Seminar that Claire and I took last fall. Along with Erin Usmen, we worked on this policy statement all of last semester. We wrote an original draft of the statement, drawing inspiration from similar policies from other colleges. We spent a great deal of time meeting with a number of administrators to further fine-tune the policy, including Pat Byrne, the VP of Administration and Planning, Andy Evans, the VP of Finance, Dean Kim, Tom Kane from Purchasing, Mike Dawley from the Physical Plant, Suzanne Howard from Environmental Health & Safety, and Diana Chapman Walsh. We also held two forums in which we got feedback from students and faculty.
We hope that the policy will make it to the Board of Trustees this semester, pending further approval by Pat Byrne and Diana. We are also in the process of establishing a Sustainability Advisory Committee, which Claire mentioned, that would advise the President on the implementation of this policy. The committee would include members of the administration whose work pertains to the environment, such as the director of Environmental Health & Safety, and staff from the Physical Plant, Motor Pool, and Grounds. Several faculty and student representatives will sit on the committee as well. This committee should be in place by the end of this semester.
Kate Doiron: If you could read over this statement (see attachments), please give us feedback. We’d like to further revise with your input to make this the best it can be.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: For the benefit of the senators, I should say that certain Cabinet members met with WEED last semester. We are really working on a well-constructed statement. Before Pat Byrne has the final say before presenting this to the trustees, we want students to have input. E-mail comments to Jessica Van Houten, the WEED senator. This is just for feedback.
Nawar Najeeb, Tower: I think this is a wonderful idea and Wellesley has a lot to offer. What institutions at Wellesley have done research?
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: Through speaking with students and the ES300 class with Professor DeSombre, which is the capstone for Environmental Studies majors. We’ve looked at greenhouse emissions and other data. Beth DeSombre is the faculty member of WEED. It’s not college-sanctioned information but we get our information from the College.
Chailee Mann-Stadt, Chief Justice: The part that says “use current data…” Should it say “obtain and use”?
Andrea Swartz: On that bullet point, maybe it should say “use current data to evaluate…”
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: It’s just trying to make sure that we know what the effects of our actions will be. We have been struggling with that sentence so any ideas are welcome.
Catherine Day: What is Jessica’s last name?
Jessica Van Houten: Van Houten.
Claire Nelson: This doesn’t hold the college itself to tangible requirements?
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: It works in conjunction with the sustainability policy committee. We realize that we shouldn’t have an empty policy. This is an ideological statement and the college will decide how to best incorporate that.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: Should there be a timeline in the statement? Should we push the college?
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: It’s a delicate balance to be firm but not too specific. The purpose of having the committee is to establish a timeline. It does come across is vague, but it needs to be.
Claire Nelson: The idea for this statement is that it will be around indefinitely. It’s a long term commitment to the ideology.
Kim Chin, CPLA Chair: What I’m afraid of is that because it is vague that the college won’t follow through with this once you graduate?
Jessica Van Houten: This is the first step with more to come. It needs to be vague at first.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: We can discuss further if we should input “yearly” for example.
Kelly O’Connor, Director of Student Activities: I think this is great. There is a difference between policies and goals. It does need to be something that the college can grasp and then make goals with dates. I would avoid dates in policies, leave the policy vague. It’s amazing that you have President Walsh’s approval now.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: The administration is supportive; we are working to get the trustee’s approval.
Nanki Marwah, Freeman: What trustee committee would receive this?
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: I think Building and Grounds?
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Pat Byrne would know, but we aren’t sure yet.
Ariel Diamond, President of WEED: Thank you for listening and please look over this with your constituents to get feedback for us. We want this to be the best it can be.
Jamie Bernthal, CG President: Please email Jessica with feedback. Thank you for staying attentive through so much tonight, we’ve had a long night together starting with the Honor Code Convention.
VI. Announcements/Adjourn
Congratulations Star Senator: Kathy Fairhurst-Lown, Davis Scholar!
Motion to move into executive session.
Motion carries.
Motion to move into executive session.
Motion carries.
cgmail (at) wellesley.edu
Created: July 2004
Last Modified: 18 October 2004
Expires: June 2005
Wellesley College
