Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Collections
Secretary Sarah Dwider ’13 invited Ben Goosen ’13 of Quakers on Campus to speak about collections. Goosen and the group are planning to present President Rebecca Chopp and the Dean’s Office a six-point proposal for “making Swarthmore’s relation to Quakerism more explicit.” Goosen spoke about his own vision for what collections could look like, but recognized that it might not be feasible.
“My ideal is that collection would be a weekly or biweekly thing,” said Goosen, which might involve speakers, performers, and time for silence and reflection. While collections would not be religious in nature, they would evoke the Quaker tradition.
“When Swarthmore had collection in the 20th century, it was never tied to religion explicitly,” Goosen said.
StuCo spoke about the possibility of holding collections at the beginning and end of each semester, to give students a “common experience” to bond over.
Educational Policy Representative Rachel Stein ’15 said she liked the idea of formally beginning, and especially ending, semesters, which often feel anticlimactic, with students scrambling to get through finals and get home. Co-President Gabby Capone was also supportive of Goosen’s ideas, recounting her high school experiences of meeting for worship.
Technically, Goosen said, groups on campus can call collections for the whole campus, a little-known resource.
Dwider invited Goosen to keep an open dialogue with StuCo about the initiative as it develops.
Board of Managers
StuCo was invited to choose the topic for the Board of Manager’s Luncheon this year. Their idea was to discuss how students could be more positively involved in administrative spaces and decision making. However Dean of Students Liz Braun said this topic might be better suited for a discussion with Chopp, so it was decided that the topic would be the future of liberal arts education.
Miscellaneous
The proposal to open the coffee bars on Sunday afternoons was approved with funding.
Capone stated that the proposal to secure a number of free Septa passes for students was underway. She and Co-President Victor Brady ’13 will take the proposal to the President’s Office. There was a suggestion that a Transportation Committee might be created, but Committee Appointments Chair Will Lawrence ’13 said that a similar Parking Committee “died a quiet death.” Lawrence was interested in making it a campus job, like Van Coordinator. Brady agreed that this was a better way to proceed.
Lawrence spoke to SBC about the success of spending rollover funds from previous years after the implementation of a new Rollover Committee. Much of the money has been spent on rollover proposals, but the rest will be used as capital replacement for SBC to fund purchases such as replacement campus vans. It will also be used to close funding gaps in the spring.
Student Groups Advisor Lanie Schlessinger ’15 will meet with Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Diane Anderson about having advising meetings for each class. These meetings would offer students more guidance as to what they should be doing at each point in their academic career, whether that be looking for a first internship, applying to a job, or looking for other opportunities. Schlessinger saw it as an opportunity to bring Career Services and academic advisors together to help students discuss and plan their futures.
