It wasn’t exactly the smoothest meeting.
As the Student Assembly met in the Susquehanna Room on Monday night, a student dance group, undoubtedly forced out of its usual practice space because of the Old Union renovations, practiced audibly outside, a floor below in front of the mail room.
These, ironically, are the problems the Student Association seeks to solve.
Inside, the frustration was comical at times, but not because of the outside performance. Assembly Chair Josh Berk had to consistently remind the Assembly to raise its voices in the converted dining hall, and to, more disruptively, follow the sacred Robert’s Rules of Order. SA President Matt Landau buried his face in the desk at one point.
The 37-person Assembly has just seven returning voices, and as motions were raised that were probably old hat to the returning crew, including the executive board, newcomers questioned the minutiae — exactly the problem Landau said he seeks to avoid in a State of the SA speech delivered to the Assembly.
Robert’s Rules of Order create a bureaucratic and uninviting atmosphere from the outset, and they’re part of the reason why the SA can find itself mired in the squabbling Landau said he hopes the Assembly will proceed without this year.
From his speech, Landau understands the problem. The SA is and has been disconnected from the average student for some time, and it needs to find a way to include those who are otherwise disinterested in a body that, in principle, seeks to represent all students. He’s created a committee to help do just that.
But it might be impossible for Landau’s goals to be reached.
The inexperience of the Assembly will disappear with time, and things will get done — we hope in less than three and a half hours. But at some point, the SA might have to consider that there’s something deeper, something ingrained in its structure that makes it such a niche, and perhaps to some students, a cryptic endeavor.
If it’s the average Bearcat Landau seeks to reach, then the system should be tailored for the average Bearcat, not patched up here and there.