The decline of student self-governance

By Daniel Imas     3/10/15 7:00pm

When I matriculated into Rice in 2011, one of the most exciting prospects of student life was one I’d heard about consistently since I visited for Owl Days — that Rice students are largely self-governing. In my last semester, it’s clear now that students have leeway to influence university regulations and policies only when it doesn’t disagree with the well-intentioned yet flawed opinions of the administration. The elimination of Cheer Battle from Orientation Week, the recent events at McMurtry College reported in the Thresher on Feb. 25 and the controversies regarding Student Judicial Programs’ harassment of students during meetings are just a few examples of how student governance has eroded during my time at Rice.

O-Week has been continually touted as a primarily student-run induction of new students, headed by the coordinators selected by each college. Yet despite the existence of the Cheer Battle for about 10 years, the administration decided without consulting the new coordinators that they would no longer sanction the event.

At McMurtry, the administration applied an unclear moral standard, vaguely billed as a Title IX violation, to pressure an elected student out of office. The Rice administration has made it clear that students can no longer rely simply on consistent application of explicitly written policies to govern their behavior, since other moral standards may be applied. While students can lobby against existing and clear rules, haphazard application of vague policies diminishes this possibility. 

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This kind of double standard extends beyond the recent events at McMurtry. Despite the prevalence of graphic posters advertising the Vagina Monologues all over campus, the administration rejected Sid Richardson College’s similar desire to portray a “phallic object” on their float this year as they did last year.

Finally, the lack of action regarding student concerns about SJP’s methods demonstrates that the administration is not in touch with the student body on important issues such as these. Last semester, I went to President Leebron’s office hours to express my concerns about the policy that no other person, not even a college master, is allowed in student meetings with SJP other than the accused party, given numerous complaints of student harassment (see the Thresher article “Students allege mistreatment from SJP staff”). I was told the administration would address those concerns, yet months later no visible changes have been made. Similar concerns have been expressed to Dean Hutchinson at meetings with the college presidents, and a Thresher op-ed by Lovett President Griffin Thomas last week reiterated the problem (see the Thresher article “SJP meetings should not be secret affairs”).

Many of the problematic administrative judgments concern a matter of community values and ethics, including the three detailed above. The Rice community’s sense of ethics, however, should be an open discussion that involves the students. When Dean Hutchinson came to the colleges to discuss changes in the alcohol policy two years ago, he came under the pretense of fielding student questions and concerns regarding future changes, but then told students he was not there to have a discussion. Similarly, in recent conversations about the stripper at McMurtry College, he told students he was disappointed that we even had to have this conversation. In many cases where there are evident gray areas, the administration imposes their views on the student body, but such questions of community values cannot be imposed top-down.

The administration’s claims that it grants students the opportunity to govern themselves and that it considers student input in their decision-making appear inconsistent with their actions in the past few years. Dean Hutchinson touts that Rice students are adults who must act reasonably, respectfully and responsibly. This relationship, however, must be reciprocal, and the administration must begin to factor in student opinion more so than it does currently.

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