STUDENT Council in my high school began at 8:30 a.m. when school started and ended 15 minutes later when we had finished announcing the recent sport results, students' birthdays and, of course, the daily lunch menu over the intercom. The administration didn't trust us to do much more than read several sheets of paper. They barely let us do that -- they would read the important pieces of information themselves.
Student government at the University is different. Be it our first tour, our orientation or our first-year experience, University Guides, orientation leaders and resident staff talk to us about "student self-governance" and the ability that we, as students, have to bring about change on Grounds. I was personally skeptical about the whole idea of "self-governance." In high school the only change I could make was four quarters for a dollar at lunch, or pants for shorts when practice started. That was about it.
Getting involved with Student Council helped me realize that we as students have an unparalleled ability to enact change at this University. In 1973, former Student Council president and current Politics Prof. Larry J. Sabato led a group of Virginia legislators around Alderman Library. Sabato arranged for students to pack the library on the same morning. After seeing the overcrowded facilities, legislators returned to Richmond and Clemons library was created shortly thereafter with state funds.
Self-governance is alive and well at the University. Student Council committees and representatives are working hard to better the University community.
In recent years, our Legislative Affairs Committee has consistently sent students down to Richmond to promote increased institutional autonomy through the Restructuring Higher Education Act.
Our Academic Affairs Committee has provided all students with online course evaluation data on the Course Offerings Directory so that students can make more informed decisions while signing up for classes.
The Student Life Committee has been hard at work addressing safety and transportation concerns with late-night busing. With continued work, we hope to extend bus service on Friday and Saturday nights until 3:00 a.m. so that students can plan how to get home on weekends and how to do so safely.
Every year the Appropriations Committee of Student Council works with the more than 530 student groups (Contracted Independent Organizations, or CIOs) to give out more than $600,000 in Student Activities Fee money. This provides students with avenues to get involved and create a proactive campus that betters the Charlottesville community, in addition to providing increased academic and social opportunities for all students on Grounds.
In this coming year, we as Student Council want to do a better job of listening. We want to do a better job of listening to you, the individual student. We want to know what you dislike about the University. We want to know how we can make your time here better. We want to know what you want to see changed, and we want to work with you to change it.
Join a committee. Run for an office. E-mail us ask-studco@virginia.edu. Go to our Web site, www.uvastudentcouncil.com. Yell at us on the way to class. Share your concerns at Tuesday night meetings at 6:00 p.m. in the South Meeting Room of Newcomb. We are here for you, and we are here to make your life at U.Va. more enjoyable. So please, let us know how we can help you out.
In high school, Student Council simply read the lunch menu over the intercom. At the University, we have the opportunity to make the lunch menu. As members of a community where self-governance is realized and not imagined, let's take advantage of that opportunity. We as a Student Council will ask you what you want to see, and what you want us to do. But we have to make it a two way street. As students let us know what you want. Give us your concerns, give us your complaints, and get involved to make our community even better.
Darius Nabors is executive vice president of Student Council.
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