Student Life Committee Woes

By Kevin Cyrulnik

The Student Life Committee eagerly began the spring semester by convening just one week after intersession.  Determined to undermine negative student sentiment on campus regarding the inability of the committee to resolve various pressing issues, Yeshiva College Student Council President Lou Shapp vowed to enforce strict guidelines for frequent meetings.  To this point, however, the student life committee has not convened since that first meeting.

The second meeting of the semester was, indeed, scheduled to occur on February 14th.  However, Shapp issued a memorandum to the constituents of the committee, conveying to them that the meeting had to be postponed due to the transportation subcommittee meeting that had already been arranged for that day as well.  Shapp ordered the members of the regular committee to instead attend the subcommittee.

Shapp maintained that he had a plethora of reasons for canceling the regularly scheduled committee, including his insistence on resolving the heated debate regarding the transportation issue.  Therefore, he decided to focus solely on that urgent issue, before moving on to less important matters. 

Many of the issues that had been on the day’s agenda, however, were ignored.  One member of the Student Life Committee iterated, “There were a number of issues that needed to be discussed at some point that have still not been resolved.”  

President of the Student Organization of Yeshiva and committee member Ilan Rosenrauch expressed his concern for the decline in issues raised by the general student body.  He admitted that the Student Life Committee was certainly not meeting as frequently as he would like; however, he attributes blame, at least in part, to the students on campus.  “I would like to appeal to my fellow students to approach any student leaders with issues that they feel are relevant to student life on campus,” Rosenrauch stressed.  Assuming that students comply with his request, Rosenrauch speculates that the Student Life Committee will return to the vital role that it should play.

Shapp also blamed recent problems on a lack of issues that need to be dealt with.  “I only schedule a meeting when a clear and defined agenda is set,” explained Shapp.  “If the meetings would occur too often, they would be ineffective.” 

Shapp revealed that the moment Student Life Committee members or other students propose topics of concern for discussion, he compiles a list and subsequently sends it out to the members of the committee.  “There are only so many issues that come up, and if nothing is there, I don’t waste people’s time with scheduling a meeting,” commented Shapp.

Nevertheless, Shapp has conceded that he wishes to revert back to upholding his guarantee that he will personally arrange meetings as often as needed.  He hopes to hold one more meeting before the upcoming Pesach break, and he has already drawn up a preliminary list of possible issues to be discussed.  Among the most pressing issues, Shapp raised the option of giving out-of-town students the opportunity to dorm on campus in the summer months.

As far as the success of the past committees in resolving the general matters, Shapp enthusiastically conveyed that he felt the meetings have certainly had success – specifying two of the most recent issues in particular.  “With respect to the transportation issue, at least one additional van was added to travel to Stern, and it seems that the number of student complaints are down,” declared Shapp.  “Also,” he continued, “I have personally witnessed a beef up of security around campus, especially around the IHP buildings.”

While reflecting on the past three months of the semester, Shapp attributed the infrequency of meetings to a “general happiness” on campus.  He explained that he perceives the student body to be generally happy, and thus, no serious issues are currently affecting campus life.  “If I don’t hear about a problem, I assume that there is not one to address,” concluded Shapp.