Leaders and potential members of a new Student Union met with a Columbus-based union organizer to begin mapping out the group's future Saturday afternoon as part of their first official meeting.
At least 30 people met to discuss expanding the union and issues they plan to address, such as possible tuition hikes, stifled free speech, unfair drug and alcohol policies and a lack of administrative regard for student opinions.
Claiming about 400 members, the union has gathered the endorsements of 14 campus and community organizations, said Will Klatt, one of the union's organizers and co-founder of the Athens chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.
The group met with union organizer Mary Loritz from Columbus, who trained them to recruit new members and how to best advocate for students by circulating petitions, protesting and lobbying administrators and politicians.
Loritz said unions have strength in numbers and can make a real difference at their university.
A real change occurs when people at the grassroots level engage in dialogue about their concerns and coming to collective solutions
she said.
Student Trustee Tracy Kelly also has endorsed the union, saying she thinks it could encourage more students to get involved.
One of the drawbacks of student government is its exclusivity she said. People are reluctant to participate they don't know how to participate
and this would give us a chance to give students from all walks of life a chance to speak.
It's important that graduate and undergraduate students see themselves as part of a larger framework, and I think the student union does have the ability to see the power of their own collective voice.
The student union is not meant to compete with or replace established student government
Klatt said
citing the membership of Student Senators Molly Shea
Alisha Bicknell and Eric Miller.
The union is instead meant to encourage popular empowerment and ensure that students' interests are represented in decision-making
he said
adding that both bodies can work together.
It's not about choosing between a Student Union and a Student Senate, he said. It's about students choosing each other.
Klatt also said that
though he can't speak for the other members
he hopes the union addresses the university's problems at the structural level.
We can talk all day about bad decisions by bad administrators, but ultimately, the problem isn't a few bad administrators, he said. The problem is structural.
We have a corporate university model
