For weeks now, a battle has raged over the fate of the Facebook group “Wolfpack Students.” Surveys were sent, hundreds of comments posted, all ultimately in favor of or in protest to a bill, currently slated for its second reading in the Student Senate, to terminate the group altogether on Dec. 14. What I’d like to highlight are the gaps in the process of the current bill, A Resolution To Be Entitled An Act To Terminate The Student Government Initiative “Wolfpack Students.”
Discrepancies raised by students like myself include the fact that the bill’s content obfuscates any attempt at actually fixing the problems currently plaguing the group, along with the rushed state in which the bill currently exists.
The current bill references the fact that moderation, “remains inconsistent ultimately ineffective.” Why not try increased, or at least enhanced, moderation before termination? There’s no doubt that “Wolfpack Students” can be a toxic place, the recent backlash against kicker Kyle Bambard is a heavy reminder of that fact, but to skip to termination is short-sighted.
At the center of the controversy is the original sponsor of the bill, Mitchell Moravec, an appointed senator in the CHASS delegation and Leader of the Pack finalist.
As a former Senate Legislative secretary and Appropriations Committee chairman, he understands the legislative process. Therefore, it seems utterly confusing that at the University Relations Committee meeting on Monday night, which deliberated on which decision to present to the Senate, he struggled to defend his bill. No examples were presented of the “pseudo-inclusive student environment” of the group, and when asked which groups were being excluded, he couldn’t answer the question.
Instead, Moravec referenced Basecamp, a project management and collaboration tool owned by the school, as an alternative to the Facebook group, but admitted that he himself did not know all the details of the program. Moravec also admitted that it had been his dream for some time to delete “Wolfpack Students.”
A survey, which was posted in “Wolfpack Students,” and attached on the weekly Howl email sent by Student Body President Paul Nolan, provided a plethora of solutions. But not once did Moravec or co-sponsor Luke Perrin, both CHASS senators, address the concerns and potential solutions of their constituents, like myself, raised in our survey answers. They were merely disregarded as too small a sample size.
When asked why he jumped straight to the nuclear option of terminating the group, Moravec said frankly he wouldn’t have received any support had he first suggested fixing it.
We’re left with an interesting question: Why was a bill brought to the Senate with no real attempt to fix the group and without a plan to manage post-deletion? If Moravec is to be held to his own word, this is merely his dream — to terminate “Wolfpack Students.”
Let’s work on at least attempting the fix the current problems in the group before we jump to terminating the group. If as Moravec states, he’s been fighting for reform, why wasn’t anything proposed in the meantime? Reform should not default to termination. In the Long/Moravec platform unveiled earlier this year during the general election for student body president and vice president, there is no mention of “Wolfpack Students.”
On Monday night, the Senate will vote on this bill. Some of these Senators will ultimately run for student body president. Remember their vote.
Anderson Shumate is a senior studying political science
