It’s about that time of the fall semester. Everyone who might have forgotten is now remembering all the tiny inconveniences that Calvin gives its students. I’m talking about things like having to walk across the Beltline or missing hot breakfast because it closes at 9:00 a.m. (because let’s be honest, it’s hard to get up some mornings). These are things that I’ve heard countless times from students around campus, and it confuses me.
Why is that? Let me explain. The student senate, of which I am a member, has a system in place for just this kind of problem. Enter Proposal Week, a week during fall semester where students can pitch their campus-improving ideas to student senate. In turn, senate will take these ideas, open a dialogue on them and eventually see these ideas implemented. The budget for these proposals starts at $10,000, but it is possible for senate to acquire additional funding if the proposal has solid support behind it. These projects can be incredibly ambitious (like building a playground next to the volleyball net), or something simple (like putting a microwave in the library).
Senate, a powerful tool for the students, needs to be given direction from the student body in order to maximize its impact and be the most effective. This is best explained by a history lesson. When student senate was created, one of the first things it did was change chapel from being mandatory to voluntary. They knew that there were some days when you just needed that coffee at the Fish House or you just had to cram for your 10:30 math test. More recently, student senate got the student body an extra day off over Thanksgiving break last year. These are the kind of ideas that anyone can make happen by taking five minutes to fill out a proposal form on the senate website.
People often ask what senate can actually do for students. The funny thing about that question is that many parts of the Calvin experience have started out as proposals from the student body. Everyone knows about the picnic tables outside the library, but there are many other things people know nothing about. For example, some older students will remember how scary the hallway behind Johnny’s used to be until a student proposal gave senate the idea to have it renovated. The beloved Calvin frisbee golf course also started out as an idea written on a proposal form.
Student senate has many ways in which we can cause positive change around campus, but one of the most effective ways of doing that is by empowering the student body’s ideas through the proposal system. That is why it sometimes confuses me when people complain about breakfast closing at 9:00 a.m. or the parking lot across the Beltline. There is $10,000 waiting to be spent fixing those kinds of problems. So the next time you complain to your friends about the lack of ice machines in the dorms, open up your laptop and fill out a proposal form. Your idea might just happen.