DOMINICK CORSI
Staff Writer
As representatives of Fredonia’s student body, the executives of the Student Association (SA) are responsible for making sure that students’ voices are heard. But how do they respond to an academic crisis?
One such situation arose on Dec. 6, 2023, when SUNY Fredonia President Stephen Kolison presented 13 potential program cuts at a special campus meeting.
The next day, on Dec. 7, the Student Association (SA) held a town hall meeting to allow students to voice their concerns about the potential program cuts.
During the town hall meeting, students were able to address the pending program cuts directly to President Kolison and members of his cabinet, as well as members of the Student Association.
The quick organization of this meeting is one of the many responsibilities of the Student Association, the organization that represents student interests on campus.
“We just want the students to be heard. The Student Association serves as the liaison between the students and the administration. Any concerns that are brought to us, we bring them to the administration and help create a plan to tackle the issue,” said Rosemarie Rapisarda, the president of the Student Association. “Whether it’s sustainability, educational, food concerns or anything else, we make sure the students’ concerns are heard. That is why most of the executives serve on [both] the Faculty Student Association Board of Directors and President Kolison’s Student Cabinet since [those] are the meetings where we voice these concerns.”
The peaceful protests on campus have been positively seen by members of the Student Association, who encourage the student body to face the potential program cuts with grace and dignity instead of pandemonium.
“The Student Association encourages students to exercise their First Amendment right to peacefully assemble. These program cuts have deeply impacted many students and faculty, and it is their right to assemble to advocate for themselves and others,” said SA Chief Justice Bethany Anderson. “Fredonia has been my home for many years, and it makes me proud to see the students standing up for themselves.”
The Dec. 6 special campus meeting featured students shouting at President Kolison from the Rosch Recital Hall gallery during his announcements and proposal of the True Blue Transformation plan.
On the perceived animosity from the student body towards President Kolison, Anderson said, “At our town halls we set the stage to be respectful of one another — we encourage students to attack the problem, not the person, although we empathize with their feelings considering everything going on.”
The Student Association encourages students to attend General Assembly meetings on Thursdays at 6 p.m. in room G26 in McEwen Hall.
During these meetings, students are given the opportunity to share any possible campus concerns. Through assembly, our student leaders are able to better understand and exemplify the student body, explained Rapisarda.
“[Since] most of our executives are members of the President’s Student Cabinet, … we report the concerns that we hear from students in those meetings,” she said. “As executives in Fredonia’s student government, one of our main goals is to represent students.”
“I heard about an incident involving a student cursing out President Kolison on campus following the announcement. I genuinely think actions like this are absurd and should not be tolerated,” she continued.
The Student Association’s collaboration with President Kolison has become slightly more complicated following the announcement of the program cuts and Kolison’s newfound unpopularity on campus.
“We wanted to clear up any misconceptions that President Kolison is the only reason for these cuts. The SUNY Board of Trustees is not giving fair funding to us. This left President Kolison the option to act fast since the campus is facing a multimillion-dollar deficit,” Rapisarda said. “The issue is SUNY. Not President Kolison. He is trying his best to advocate for fair funding for our campus but cannot achieve complete success if students are fighting against him. We need to work together collaboratively as it will bring higher chances of success.”
Amid the campus chaos and collaboration with President Kolison and his cabinet, leaders of the Student Association share grievances with the rest of the student body.