Opinion

Pushback on pathway symptomatic of larger issues

By Yassine Dahlek ’19

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At the Student Assembly meeting prior to the spring 2017 recess, someone made a request for a pathway by the Days-Massolo Center. Immediately, the administrator present and the ranking members of the Student Assembly dismissed the problem as unfeasible due to safety and liability issues. I pushed the Assembly to consider the larger issue at hand which is the lack of resources for students of color of campus. However, members of the assembly continued to reject the request without seeking to engage with the problem. 

The Assembly is present to serve as a liaison between the student body and the administration and to convey the issues in question, not to disregard requests for aid and have that be the end of the issue.  We as a collective student body should be concerned at the neglect shown to issues the student body has raised.  Students of color gravely lack representation in the Assembly and the existing members demonstrate a lack of knowledge about the daily life of students of color on the Hill. 

Evidence of the lack of diversity in Student Assembly has arisen in the wake of the subsequent meeting after the request was made for a walkway by the Days-Massolo Center. Members were dismissive and rude to certain students of color who voiced their opinion, and throughout the meeting particular members chatted amongst themselves and laughed while a student spoke to the necessities not being provided to them. An assembly member from the freshman class resigned after she witnessed the mockery of the issues of students of color on campus. Our system of communication to the administration has demonstrated its inability to engage with issues that plague students of color across the campus. 

The issue at hand today is not that of a walkway to the Days-Massolo Center, but the lack of urgency in addressing the needs of students of color to the administration even when students demonstrate clear support for the request. There have been numerous instances during my two years here at Hamilton when the students of color have banded together to address their issues with the campus, such as last year’s march in solidarity for offering Professor Reynaldo Ortiz another contract to remain at the institution and meetings with sections of the administration to acquire necessary halal food for the growing Muslim population on campus. Ultimately, both requests were dismissed and the problems at hand remained unresolved. Individually, these demands affect portions of the community to differing extents but collectively this is indicative of an environment lacking the necessary cultural and religious resources to foster an emotionally healthy student body. The new administration under President Wippman must take it upon itself to heed the voices of students of color and take more urgent steps to create an equitable environment for growth for all of its students.

On Nov. 13, 2015, Hamilton College students gathered at the Sadove Student Center to walk in solidarity to keep Professor Reynaldo Ortiz as a professor at Hamilton. Despite students’ efforts, Professor Ortiz was not offered a new contract. How does one justify refusing to provide a new contract to a professor who galvanized the student body and provided emotional and academic support to the students of color on campus? The academic rigor of Professor Ortiz’s courses was just as demanding as any other course on campus, and he revolutionized a whole generation of Hamilton students. Yet even with the academic success and growth in social consciousness demonstrated by his students and the demonstration of support from a sizable portion of Hamilton’s student body, Professor Ortiz was let go at the end of the following semester. 

A diverse student body requires a diverse faculty and staff in order to operate well. Sadly it took a march by hundreds of students to make the administration aware of this. While the demonstration did not succeed in keeping Professor Ortiz on campus, it did incite the administration to engage in job searches to address the lack of faculty and staff of color at Hamilton. We as students must ensure that our voices are heard during this process. We must attend job talks and speak to heads of departments to ensure that we bring these individuals to campus and that they become permanent fixtures on the Hill. 

Prior to November break of this year, the Muslim Student Association members gathered alongside our advisor Professor Mireille Koukjian, to compile a list of goals to make the Hill more comforting for marginalized groups on campus. What we saw as the most urgent issue to address was easily the lack of accessible halal food on Hamilton’s campus. The dietary restrictions in Islam call for a specialized process in the harvesting of meat which makes it halal certified.

Halal meat providers exist across the United States, and vendors often supply college campuses. It is not an unreasonable request to ask for dietary accommodations. In fact, this is often a question on forms that first-year students fill out prior to arriving on campus. The Association arranged meetings to discuss this request, but the administration members in charge of food on campus rejected many solutions that we presented to them with no initiative to solve the larger issue at hand. 

After March 27, 2017, Bon Appétit began serving one halal entree in Commons. This is a step in the right direction, but I can assure you that a single halal entree will not suffice in accommodating the growing Muslim population on campus. Halal food availability is a serious health concern for students on campus, and it is imperative that the administration moves swiftly to solve this problem.    

The responsibility falls upon us, as students at Hamilton, to exhaust every method of engagement with the administration. I will be making appointments with members of the administration to discuss these issues, and I encourage my fellow students to attend assembly meetings and visit President Wippman during his open hours. It is also necessary for the administration as a whole to engage more with students and their organizations. As students, we are asking for the College to move expeditiously toward providing a healthy environment for all students on campus.  I do not seek to diminish the initiative of the new administration in addressing these issues. It is key, however, that we students of Hamilton College show the administration the urgency of the current situation.

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