Letter to the Editor: Apathy and Atrophy at UMW

It seems like over the past four years I’ve been at the University of Mary Washington has become stricken by a disease, a cancer. I’m not sure if it is internal to the students, faculty, or the administration, but what is for sure is that it is causing more than a fair share of issues at UMW. There seems to be a great deal of complaining about how UMW is run, our activities, our campus, the food. There are accusations of an administration that isn’t listening.   I know because I am one of UMW’s harshest critics, but after that I know it is a great school. I learned the hard way after I transferred out of UMW and then returned less than a year later.  To me though, it seems like we have a student body that isn’t talking.

Recently a motion passed through UMW student senate proudly proclaiming, UMW students want fraternities and sororities on campus. Really? Does this seem like something UMW students want? This year student senate consists of only around 25 students. Fifteen mostly Greek affiliated students voted yes, ten students not associated with Greek life voted no. Student senate no longer is representative of the student body. At this ratio you would think that over 60 percent of the student body was associated with fraternities and sororities.  It has also passed executive cabinet 3-0-6, in order of yes, no and abstaining.

This really is just the latest though in a chronic issue of student involvement on campus. Whether it is clubs or more important institutional organizations such as Student Senate, students are surprisingly lacking and therefore their voice is lacking. I do have some hope; previously student senate called in Apogee, the school’s on-campus internet provider for a hearing.  Our findings where shocking. UMW ranked as one of the lowest out of all public state schools for internet speed. In addition, Apogee claimed they had an 80 percent student satisfaction rate. We provided our finding and with a Senate of 40 some students, they took our questions and complaints seriously. Apogee has since increased its speeds somewhat and since we caught Apogee and the university during their contract negotiation period, Apogee will also consistently increase speeds over the next few years. Our work in Senate has benefited the student body more than we have been given credit for. We also called in Sodexo to hear concerns from the Senate as well, albeit with few senators, our concerns were not so well received.

Senate’s latest victories are just the tip of the iceberg of the real power that students wield to change campus for the better, but with the dramatic decrease in participation, so does our power. I think a lot of people believe or have been taught to believe, at some fundamental or unconscious level, that the system doesn’t work. In reality, our systems do work, but only when people are constantly involved in them. Join Student Senate to make your voice heard, join other on campus clubs to influence the things that you care about. But whatever you do, do not sit by idly, complain, and not make those complaints heard; you can make change happen.

Patrick Burnett, student at the University of Mary Washington