The Oberlin Student Senate is making changes this year, including implementing tabling, town halls, and more active committees, to boost engagement with the student body.
Student Body President and College fourth-year Natalie Dufour has identified three primary goals for the Student Senate this year: visibility, accessibility, and cultivating community. By focusing on these objectives, Dufour hopes to create a more inclusive and responsive Senate that better serves the diverse needs of the Oberlin student body.
“At the end of the day, we want Student Senate to be accessible, a body that students can go to if they have questions or if they need anything,” Dufour said. “Even if it’s a concern that you may consider trivial –– come to Senate. Our job is to make sure that your voices are heard.”
To achieve these goals, committees are set to play a more prominent role in shaping the direction of Student Senate. In the past, committees existed within the Senate but were not as active. Committees consist of Oberlin students who discuss possible resolutions to day-to-day challenges faced by students. Most members of Student Senate, excluding the president, lead a committee, with topics including student life, student academic affairs, and student housing. Size can range from as few as two students to as many as 10. According to Dufour, the Senate released committee applications earlier this year and received almost 50 responses.
Dufour emphasized that these committees now serve as crucial hubs for collecting student perspectives and helping the Senate stay responsive to student needs.
“Committees have been around as long as Senate’s been around,” Dufour said. “They’ve just fallen out of practice. In rereading through the bylaws, I was like, ‘We need to bring these committees back,’ because I know that Oberlin is a campus full of extremely engaged and passionate students who want to make a difference.”
College fourth-year Bennett Elder, vice president of Student Life within the Senate and leader of the Student Life Committee, shared how the committees are helping to diversify his understanding of student issues. Elder’s committee, currently composed of three students, is already proposing ideas like expanding access to hygiene products across campus and increasing multicultural programming visibility.
“I’m one person, and I’ve been here for three, going on four years now, so I’ve sort of fallen into my niche,” Elder said. “Having a committee with a bunch of different people who are in different groups is going to help diversify my viewpoint.”
College first-year Kiley Brock is a member of the Student Life Committee and the Academic Affairs Committee. Brock said her perspective as a first-year enables her to contribute insight into the concerns of her fellow first-years, helping the committee to meet their unique needs. The Academic Affairs Committee has already discussed potential plans like instituting a peer mentoring program by major.
“People will come to me and voice their concerns because I’m a friend to them first,” Brock said. “Then I can bring that to the Senate and be like, ‘Hey, this is what people have told me.’”
The increased emphasis on accountability is also crucial this year. A new weekly success report, instituted by Dufour, keeps all Senate members on track and accountable for the work they complete each week. By asking committees to report meeting notes and frequency of meetings, Senate hopes to ensure that committees will remain active and productive throughout the semester.
In addition to committee work, Student Senate is focusing on increasing its presence on campus. Senators will be tabling at student events and sports games, making it easier for students to approach them with questions or concerns. Elder and others on the Senate will also spearhead the creation of a Senate website, providing an accessible forum for students to learn more about the Senate’s initiatives and reach out.
