We introduced the first draft of our proposed changes to the Campus Senate Constitution to Campus Senate about three months ago. These changes will more clearly define the Senate and give it the ability to create real and long-lasting changes that respond to the many challenges that Kenyon faces. It is vital that these changes are adopted by Campus Senate and President Kornfeld to build student power and reinvigorate passion toward deciding our own futures at Kenyon. 

The Senate’s role has changed dramatically over the last decade, significantly disadvantaging our ability to shape our campus. The Senate used to thrive by building creative solutions for Kenyon because of its uniquely diverse representation. However, in 2018, the Senate’s power changed from a legislation-making body to an advisory structure attached to the Office of the President. This change limited collaborative decision making for an organization that could have aided the College in adapting to recent challenges such as the pandemic and now budgetary concerns. The stripping of legislative authority from the Senate has degraded a salient pathway to making changes on campus. 

The Senate is distinct from other councils as each group — faculty, staff, students and senior staff — is represented. This inclusivity creates an effective environment for sharing information, a preliminary first step to sustainable decision-making. The current model of top-down problem solving has wasted the Senate’s potential for building community-based solutions. 

The Senate’s current role as an advisory body unfairly limits and confuses student involvement in governance at Kenyon. The solution is to bring back our ability to pass concrete resolutions that make changes that reflect what students, faculty and staff want for Kenyon, giving the community an additional pathway for decision making. Examples of resolutions could be as simple as providing Peirce with more reusable coffee cups to as large-scale as creating new rules for reporting Kenyon’s carbon emissions to the community. Moving away from the current language of recommendation holds the Senate to the high standard of having a clearly actionable outline for everything we propose, giving the Office of the President a crystallized vision for what we imagine for Kenyon’s future. Resolutions will give community members at Kenyon more agency over the current and future decisions that affect us. It is imperative to have more voices in governing Kenyon. Campus Senate offers the perfect space to create informed, collaborative, cross-campus decisions. Through these changes, we will create a more effective mechanism that encourages the entire campus community to collectively work to improve Kenyon’s future. 

Signed, 

Your senators – 

Aidan Cullen (student co-chair), Griffin Meyer (senior senator) and Eleanor Retish (sophomore senator)