Members of the Stuyvesant community voiced their opinions about the possible Student Union (SU)-college office swap at a School Leadership Team (SLT) meeting on Tuesday, February 6.
The Parents’ Association (PA) first proposed the swap in the spring of 2006. Their proposal involves relocating the student organizations within the SU suite, except for The Spectator, to the current location of the college office, room 225. The college office would move to the SU space.
While the PA believes that a swap will provide additional college services to the student body, members of the SU, Arista and Big Sibs argue that they need their current space to maintain student life at Stuyvesant.
At the SLT meeting, college advisor Pat Cleary cited several advantages of the swap. Currently, when alumni want to help students with the college application process, Cleary turns them down because of the lack of space.
In addition, when college representatives visit Stuyvesant, Cleary said she has to book the theater, which is “getting impossible to get.”
If the college office is expanded, Cleary said she could enlist the help of volunteer organizations such as Learning Leaders, which provides tutoring and other support to New York City public school students.
Confidentiality is an issue in the current college office. “You can’t have private conversations,” Cleary said. “When kids talk about money, it’s very embarrassing. Nobody needs to have their family income broadcast to other people.”
PA Co-President Paola de Kock said the PA, having made all of these “rational arguments,” will “not negotiate any longer” with the SU.
According to de Kock, the PA is now calling on “the rest of the community to do the right thing.”
De Kock said she will appeal to Principal Stanley Teitel, who “can make anybody move.”
The SU is following a different course of action. “It’s important right now to educate the student body,” SU President Jamila Ma said. “It’s important that [the SU officials] are not just the only ones that are opposing this.”
“The SLT, being open to any student, is a valuable resource during this process because it’s ultimately student space,” senior and SU Chief of Staff Scott Ritter said.
Members of the SU, Big Sibs, Arista and The Spectator attended the SLT meeting in record numbers to express their disapproval of the swap. “We were able to convey a strong student side of this. I was happy that students cared enough to come,” Ma said. “Clubs are at the heart of the student body and this specific issue struck a chord.”
Senior and SU Club/Publication Director Eliot Kim said by moving the SU, the PA is “trying to duck the whole extracurricular life at Stuyvesant so that […] kids can get into college.” Kim said he stores Dance Dance Revolution pads and candy in the SU. He also uses the space to meet with club/pub directors.
“I [see the SU suite] as a space for students and I [see] it as a place where I can find a home in this school,” Ritter said. “You just kind of want a second to relax and say, ‘This is my school. This isn’t a school I just commute to everyday, but it’s a school I can call home.’”
“New issues will arise if the switch is made,” senior and Arista President Mubashir Billah said. “We’re not going to be able to use [the second floor bar] because the college office is doing interviews or it’s too loud.”
“[The SU, Big Sibs and Arista are] different organizations, trying to do different things. They shouldn’t cross boundaries,” Ma said. “If we were to switch, it would make it extremely difficult.”
The tension between members of the PA and the SU was evident during the SLT meeting. “The PA feels that the leadership of the SU is very split,” de Kock said. “I’m not sure I see what the SU is doing for the students.”
At the SLT meeting, de Kock referred to members of the SU as “arrogant, self-centered bullies.”
SU officials were offended by her choice of language. “Personally, I found them hurtful. They weren’t the nicest words,” Ritter said. “This is a discussion not only with Paola de Kock, but with the entirety of the PA. I don’t think our discussion will move along quickly if we talk like that.”
De Kock said students who support the SU-College Office swap are “harassed, bullied and excluded to insure that their voices are not heard.”
In an interview with The Spectator, de Kock said she was referring to students who had “a group of people yelling at them” and who were “chased down the street.”
“[There] are things that have happened sort of interpersonally within the SU,” Ritter said. “We’ve had a discussion about it within the SU.”
Not all members of the PA support the swap. “We don’t have a collective opinion. Some parents feel that it’s the school’s responsibility,” PA Co-President Leo Y.W. Lee said. “Many executive board members are not [directly] involved and we really don’t know too much about it.”
According to Teitel, if there is going to be a switch, it will happen over the summer.
To alleviate tensions, the administration will survey the student body sometime after SING!. “If the student body thinks it’s a good idea, it might force the SU to rethink their position,” Teitel said.
Before the DOE instituted citywide budget cuts, the PA argued that if the college office was expanded, Teitel would hire a fourth college advisor. Given the 277,000 dollar loss to Stuyvesant’s budget, the possibility of this happening in the near future is unlikely.
“At some point, the budget will turn around and if there’s space available, you can hire more help. This is an issue of providing services to the student body,” Teitel said. “If the student body can’t see it, then let them suffer. I will not force the change.”