It's difficult to describe how disappointed I am with the Student Council space allocation process. The last three weeks (and possibly longer) of "decision-making" has been a merry-go-round of ignorance and corruption. The International Relations Organization, a CIO that has contributed positively to the University community for nearly 40 years, has been denied Newcomb Hall office space in an unfair, unmitigated, and ultimately self-serving Student Council process.
Last fall, I had originally heard rumors that Student Council was attempting to take over the IRO office in Newcomb Hall; but I had faith that the process would prevail. We had been granted an office in Newcomb Hall for the last five years, and since our organization has only grown in that time, we thought that we had a strong case for keeping our office. IRO decided to include, as a last resort, that we would be willing to share the office if that was absolutely necessary; such a decision was ultimately foolhardy in the counter-intuitive world of the Space Allocation Process.
Apparently, the needs of CIOs are auxiliary to the needs of Student Council, who's Vice President for Organizations Catherine Tobin and her Space Allocation Committee elicited to grant our office to Graduate Student Council. The GSC, by the way, has a very large presence on Student Council; indeed, according to some sources, one GSC member practically "runs the allocation committee." Though he did not vote in the office allocation process, his influence granted him such a strong voice that his vote was unnecessary. Instead of our Newcomb Hall office space, Student Council granted us our 14th choice on the office selection application, sharing with two other organizations in Lambeth Field. Apparently, they had put our application in the pile labeled "willing to share," whereas the other Newcomb Hall office requests (such as the Greek Organizations and Sustained Dialog) were shuffled in the "not willing to share." Those organizations were granted their office space. Our organization was penalized for being accommodating.
This was only the beginning. IRO then emailed Catherine Tobin to request some kind of appeal. She flatly denied that an appeals process existed, and asserted that her committee's decision was "final." Luckily, we had the internet, and discovered through the online Student Council Constitution that either she was lying to IRO, or she simply didn't know how the process worked. In light of this discovery, we immediately began the appeals process; we were optimistic, because we thought merit would prevail over politics.
The appeals process culminated two nights ago with a flourish of political deception and biased discourse. Before the appeals, during the "community concerns" portion of their meeting, a number of Graduate Student Council members gave impassioned speeches to describe why they deserved an office. No one on Student Council told us that such a forum would exist to verbalize our appeal. Had such an opportunity been given, the over 30 IRO members that use the IRO office on a regular basis would have gladly given their perspective. But no one told us. And we were summarily denied an appeal. Furthermore, several emails were inappropriately sent to the committee beforehand by GSC members to make their appeal from another venue. Again, no one told us that such a method existed.
Nevermind the fact that IRO never asks for a single cent from Student Council. Nevermind the diligent work of IRO members in recruiting hundreds of bright young high school students every year to consider the University through our Model UN conference (one of the primary reasons I decided to attend the University of Virginia). Nevermind our continued contributions to the community through the Wilson Journal of International Affairs and the illustrious speakers we bring to the University. Nevermind all the meetings and events that are essentially tied to our office space in Newcomb Hall. All these reasons aside, even if we did not deserve an office space, the manner in which we were denied our office claim was beyond inappropriate. IRO was accommodating in its application, and it was punished. We were lied to, we were conspired against, and all because powers within Student Council gamed their own system to further their own interests.
I don't doubt that there are good reasons for GSC to have an office space. Rather, I am quite righteously appalled by the manner in which they corrupted the process to get that office space. I am severely disappointed with the way Student Council predetermined their decision-making, the way they misinformed IRO, the way they unfairly bolstered GSC's case while they crippled our own. In the future, I hope that Student Council will consider why exactly they exist: to help the concerns of students and student organizations, rather than helping themselves.
Josh Cincinnati is a fourth-year student and a former president of the IRO.
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