In print | Published April 2, 2009

Earlier this week, the administration sent out an e-mail notifying students of a new page on the Swarthmore website designed to inform the community about changes in the college’s budget.
Today, however, we would like to propose an entirely different forum for student opinions and concerns about college finances and any other issues that arise. We propose the revival of the Swarthmore collection, which is a Quaker tradition dating back to the founding of the College that has been continued only intermittently since.

A Quaker collection is a public meeting where members of the community come to gather and discuss spiritual and secular concerns. Those attending remain silent until they are moved to speak, at which point they rise and give voice to their concerns.

We propose a modified version of the Quaker practice. The meetings should be formatted the same way, with attendees sitting silently and listening until they are ready to speak, but we propose that the meetings remain entirely secular, and, in the interests of ensuring that the meetings are productive and that the most urgent concerns are aired, that the central issues of the collection are decided upon in advance.

The issue, or issues, that will be discussed should pertain to the Swarthmore College and community, and will be decided by student vote. Student-suggested topics can be posted on the college Dashboard, and, as we anticipate the collection occurring once a month, students should have adequate time to brainstorm and vote on the best discussion topics. By holding the collection once a month, as opposed to the weekly formula attempted earlier in the college’s history, topics for discussion will more easily accumulate, and busier students will have easier times participating and contributing to the tradition. No classes, clubs or sports practices should be scheduled during the time set aside for collection, for while the meetings ought to be perfectly voluntary, it is imperative that every student who wants to attend has the opportunity to do so.

It is crucial that the discussion topics are student led. Administrators should be invited to attend and participate, but only in their capacity as individuals and members of the Swarthmore community.
Our school has a proud history of activism that continues to this day. We believe the proposed monthly collection will enhance this tradition. We would like there to be a meeting place where students can discuss a multiplicity of issues that affect the campus, under the auspices of neither club nor administration. The meeting will serve no one’s agenda, and will merely be a place for students to announce their thoughts and participate in public discussion.

We welcome every additional channel that is opened between administration and student. But it is only through public meetings, where students can hear each other’s thoughts, publicly formulate new ideas, and, potentially, form coalitions to change administration policy, that real, student-driven change will occur and a true community can be built.

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