On March 10, graduating seniors all received an e-mail featuring ASWC President Carson Burn styling the new (blue) graduation gown all seniors were expected to purchase for 32.35 with tax by April 15.

For most seniors, this was the first time we had ever heard of this change in policy.

The student body was not asked for input on this change. ASWC was not consulted. The administration had only consulted the Senior Class Committee. This was not an elected body of students like ASWC but rather a group of students who work for the Alumni Office to build class unity and solicit donations to the senior fund. This body of 10 students was expected to be able to speak for the entire senior class of over 400 students.

Not surprisingly, this expectation was wrong. The decision created ripples through the senior class, stirring controversy and inciting frustration. It became the latest example of Whitman’s administration announcing a decision that impacted the entire senior class without consulting any large group of students beforehand. Remember, according to Whitman’s graduation requirements, a student must walk at commencement, thereby buying a graduation gown, in order to graduate.

Two years ago, during the budget crisis, the administration made a series of decisions affecting large portions of campus. They cut the varsity ski team and the student activities fund which supported CAB and Coffeehouse.

The decision itself was painful for many students, but not altogether unsurprising. Whitman’s endowment lost over 70 million dollars that year alone. Cuts had to be made. What was surprising was how the administration implemented that decision. They chose to announce it to the ski team and to the students as if it were an ultimatum. Varsity skiing was going away. CAB would be no more. We could say goodbye to Coffeehouse.

After irate students reacted to this decision, the administration in collaboration with ASWC and the student body came up with some palatable solutions. The ski team became a club sport and started raising its own funds while ASWC created WEB.

Then last fall, the administration announced that the faculty would be switching to a 3-2 course load. By now, most students have heard the justifications for this switch over and over again.

Students understand that it’s important for the faculty to have time to research and that Whitman needs to hire the best and brightest. However student frustration didn’t come from the switch itself but from how the administration managed the transition. Since the announcement, the faculty have worked closely with an energized ASWC and student body to create new systems to alleviate the registration pressures caused by the change : systems which other schools making the 3-2 transition adopted from the beginning.

Of course, these recent fixes don’t make it any better for all the students who dealt with limited class options, high enrollment and overwhelmed waitlists this year : all of which could have easily been avoided had students been consulted before the decision was implemented.

Now, with the requirement to purchase caps and gowns, the administration has shown that they have learned nothing from the last two years. They persist in making critical decisions without proper consultation with the student body before implementing a decision.

Despite the ski team and 3-2 examples, they haven’t realized that the students can make intelligent suggestions to a policy change. A month after the first e-mail about purchasing caps and gowns, there was a noticeable shift in the language used to market gowns. Clearly, after considerable outrage raised by a wide variety of seniors, the administration has started to offer financial assistance to some students who literally cannot afford another 32.35 dollars after already spending over 160,000 dollars to attend Whitman. They have also started offering a reuse and recycling program for the gowns based on concerns raised largely by senior ASWC senators Elise Otto and Robin Lewis.

Just as with the budget cuts of two years ago and the 3-2 shift from last year, all of these important changes which were made after the initial announcement would have been suggested had the administration consulted the wider student body.

Students are fully capable of understanding the complex, difficult decisions that the administration faces. We are not interested in stonewalling the administration’s ability to make key decisions, nor are we interested in merely being reactionary.

All we want is to be a part of the decision-making process. As the controversies over the last two years have shown,  we can make valuable contributions. We just need the opportunity.