Eliza asked Sara about her goals for joining Student Council at Columbia University. Sara underscored her aim to foster dialogue and create space for free flowing exchange of ideas--both amongst students AND between student and administrators. She noted that there is often a lack of trust between students and administrators, which can lead to hostility. Sara feels this stems from lack of understanding as a result of administrators not communicating reasons for their actions, or when their actions differ from those of peer institutions, which can lead to students lashing out in frustration and to make themselves heard. The current response to Covid and administrators decisions about housing this past semester was an example of this--first year students had been told they’d all get housing on campus up until August, which led to hostility from the student body about why they hadn’t been warned earlier.
