We write today on behalf of the current student government of Bates College, the Representative Assembly and as concerned members of the community. Throughout the history of the College, student participation has been seen as critical to the vitality of the institution and valued by both the students and the administration, faculty, and staff.

Recently, however, the strength and power of the voice of students at Bates has eroded due to the less than powerful presence of students on key committees, and at important elections, and at deciding moments for the future of the College. Today we wish to draw the community^"s attention to some of these opportunities that have not been fully seized by our community as a whole and invite you to consider how that might be changed.

This fall, as every fall, the student government is charged by the faculty to seat students on 13 Faculty/Student committees, including the Educational Policy Committee, the Curriculum and Calendar Committee, and the Extra Curricular and Residential Life Committee. Of these 13, only six were completely seated due to lack of applicants, and there were no applicants for three committees. The result: Bates, on the verge of massive change in the structure of the curriculum, the academic calendar, and a number of other systems under which we all operate, makes decisions without the benefit of student opinion or representation.

Further, after an invitation to all students to participate in the

nomination of friends and classmates for the Advisory Committees to the Trustees, President, and Deans of Students of Bates College, only a

handful of students turned out for the nominations and the elections.

The result: Given that there was a meeting with the student committee and the Trustees, at which the recent National Coming Out Weekend incident and the future of NESCAC participation in NCAA post-season athletic competitions issue were discussed, it seems that perhaps more of us should be concerned about who represents our voice.

The allocation of funds to student organizations has long been an issue on this campus, but yet two organizational leaders turn out to try to provocatively reshape those guidelines to benefit all the organizations on the campus that program and educate us all. Yet every year there is great objection raised to how this process is constructed and implemented. The result: The future of the systems that we have decided shall govern us all are being shaped by far too few of us. As members of the community attending parties and events, we are affected by the decisions that govern clubs and organizations.

Given these responses, but a few examples, we are forced to ask the questions: Does anyone care about how an honor code might affect our community? Is the issue of post-season athletic activity in the NCAA of interest to anyone? Is anyone affected by how organizations, clubs, and others provide our entertainment and extracurricular activities? Why do many constituencies not send a representative to the RA? Why do individuals not propose new governance structures? Must we wait for another crisis to grip our campus, or can we provocatively engage with each other, the faculty, staff and administration, now to affect positive change and find good solutions?

It seems that as members of the Bates College community, we all have a responsibility to become active and participate in the maintenance and improvement of our community. This should not be a task left up to a few usual suspects - they burn out, they desire broader input and critique. We all should assume our own responsibility as a member of this community.

We invite you all to join us in rethinking where we are at as a student community. We write today to ask you to think about what your vision of the future is and how we can better work together as a community to make Bates a more vibrant, supportive, and educative community. Because sound leadership opens minds, we invite you to join us.

Sincerely,

Liam D. Clarke '98 - President
Seth D. Guthartz '99 - Vice President
Carrie E. Delmore '00 - Secretary
Jennifer B. Stuart '98 - Treasurer
Sherard S. Ware '99 - Parliamentarian