Busy Students Need More Representation, but a Lack of Interest Persists

By Jena Fracassini

Staff Writer

In a community of nearly 5,300 people, there are many voices to be represented at Housatonic. This semester, there are 5 Student Senators. That’s one senator per almost 1,000 students

Kelly Hope, Director of Student Life, here at Housatonic said, “If you think HCC is ‘whack’ or has nothing going on, it’s because you guys don’t want to plan anything, and maybe you are ‘whack’.” She’s frustrated because despite the desperate attempts by the Senate to recruit new members, there’s been little interest from the student body to participate.

Each student attending Housatonic pays an activity fee: $10 for full-time students and $5 for part-time students. This fee is used by the Student Senate for planning and conducting activities that the student body can enjoy. The Senate also approves new clubs, regulates and disperses funds to these clubs. The senators also promote things such as diversity, education, culture, and try to improve the college experience for everyone on campus.

Ideally, the Senate should have at least 1% of the student population, which would be around 50 senators. Hope recalls last fall, when the Senate had 15 members, as a greatly productive session. Members have since graduated, taken employment, or no longer have the availability to participate.

Thomas Figueiredo, a student at Housatonic, thinks, “lacking Student Senate members undoubtedly stunts community growth,”but said he doesn’t join due to not having enough time to commit.

“Our campus community needs a variety of leaders to represent our diverse needs,” said Chealsey Lancia, a Criminal Justice major here at Housatonic. “We’ll always be busy, that doesn’t change, but joining the Senate would make a real difference.” She’s currently trying to see if she can find room in her tight schedule to join.

Those interested in joining should stop by the Student Life Office located in Beacon Hall, room 317, and pick up an application. The applicant should be willing to commit around 5 hours per week, have a minimum 2.5 G.P.A, and have enough gumption to ask 50 peers to sign the application.