So You've a Problem with Salem State?
By: Tucker Worral & Megan Grossi
If you’ve heard a friend complain about Salem State policies before, it has probably been followed by the refrain, “But there’s nothing you can do about it.” The conversation moves onto other topics and nothing is resolved. Students don’t feel they have an outlet for their dissatisfaction. The Salem State Student Union aims to fix this problem. If we the students come together and fight for a common cause, then SSU will be changed for the better.
When Megan Grossi, our vice-president, first transferred to this school from Ohio Wesleyan University she was confused and surprised that she had to tap into her dormitory to enter. Not being able to visit other residential buildings freely was bizarre. For Megan, however, the rules concerning the guest policy were the weirdest thing. At her last school, students could go in and out of other residence halls without having to be signed in. She could meet with as many people as she wanted to in any hall of their choosing. They could also stay as long they wanted without being penalized of wasting one of four overnight visits per month.
When the president of the Union, Tucker Worrall, came to Salem State he was shocked to learn about the rules imposed by Residence Life. Like Megan, he had transferred schools and his experience at his former school had been completely different from Salem. He had to sign in his friends that came from other buildings; he had to worry about how many times his friends stayed passed 3am; he had to let Residence Life look through his backpack or grocery bags during October. Immediately it made him dislike living in the dorms. Worse still, it made him distrust the administration, and feel like they didn’t trust him either. He started to feel that the school didn’t respect its students and quickly learned that many people at the university felt the same way.
Another member, Andrew Ahern, worked for Residence Life for three years. In that time he witnessed the justified anger of the student body. People were turned away at the door for having the wrong I.D. or were told that their guest privileges had been taken away because their friends stayed over too many nights. These were only some of the issues he faced. When the workers tried to voice their concerns to their supervisors they were met with indifference. Residents were complaining but nobody was hearing them.
As the members continued through their academic careers at Salem State the continued to notice an institutional indifference to students’ problems. The food was terrible, and when the school claimed to improve it nothing was changed. The promised that they would include more gluten-free and vegan options but these have been extremely underwhelming. Because the chefs might not be used to cooking these types of food these options tend to be lower quality. The rest of the food at the dining hall remained the same despite cosmetic changes.
The school’s president, Patricia Maguire Meservey, was not as involved as students would have liked. At his former university, the president lived on campus and was often seen on the university’s grounds.. It would be helpful to campus dialog if the incoming president could be a more viable figure on campus.
When the members of the Union had a problem on campus it was routine to be sent to several different departments before a problem was fixed. There was and continues to be a fundamental sense of apathy that hangs over the campus like a noxious cloud. It creates an administration that is slow to respond to student concerns, and a student body that feels that nothing can be done. Only with persistent dialog and improvements to student life can this be combated.
There is a sense on campus that the school is also trying to monetize as many places on campus as it can. Some courses force students to buy Salem State-specific textbooks that increase the financial burden on students. The University should be focusing on reducing students’ textbook costs. The school also doesn’t give students enough money for printing each semester, forcing us to spent extra to turn in our assignments. It seems that everywhere you turn on campus the school is trying to get you to spend more money. The Union hopes to work with the school to make changes, including reducing costs.
The only way for positive change to begin on campus is for us to make our voices heard. We believe that students should get up and protest for the things they don’t like about the university- residents and commuters alike. Together we have the power to make positive change on campus. The Union wants to meet with members of the administration in order to get responses to student concerns. We believe that the most important step of solving any issue is dialogue, something that we feel is lacking on campus at the moment.
We have already gathered hundreds of signatures of students who expressed interest in what we are fighting for. As members of the Union canvassed Central Campus we saw overwhelming support for our positions. People are excited to see change in things like the guest policy, the quality of food, and the costs of attendance but we need more help. Every student that joins the cause increases the chances of real change on campus. If you are interested in more information please email us at salemstatestudentunion@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/salemstatestudentunion. We also meet every Thursday at 7pm in the Bertolon Cafe. Everyone is welcome. Together we can make real change happen!