JACKIE ALBRECHT NEWS EDITOR
Members of Wartburg’s administration are uncertain whether Wednesday’s Project Orange movement was the best way for students to voice their concerns.
Dean of Faculty Ferol Menzel heard about Project Orange Tuesday afternoon and communicated her concerns to Student Body President Travis Bockenstedt. Menzel said she was worried about students taking a day off this late in the semester.
“I would have preferred not recommending students to not go to classes. I think there are probably other ways it could’ve been accomplished,” Menzel said.
Interim President William Hamm said although he suspects Project Orange was effective to get students’ messages out, he is unsure whether the movement was the best way for students to build trust.
“I suppose in due course we’ll see how that all works,” Hamm said.
Hamm said he is sympathetic with student concerns as are his colleagues.
“I don’t get up in the morning thinking us versus them, and I never have,” Hamm said.
Menzel and Hamm both said they were unclear about the student issues listed in a memorandum sent by Student Senate to faculty Wednesday.
“I’m eagerly awaiting some sort of organized effort to talk about the issues that were outlined in the document,” Menzel said.
“Student grievances are not carefully defined at this point,” Hamm said.
The two administrators said they are unclear about how an Outfly and student concerns are linked together.
“I had no knowledge of the grievances when 1,000 students showed up on my doorstep at 6:30. … I mean the students knew, but I didn’t. Nobody ever told me that there were grievances that this day was about,” Hamm said.
Menzel sent an e-mail to faculty Wednesday morning telling them it was not an authorized day off for students and that faculty needed to respond to absences consistent to what is listed in their syllabi. The administration chose not to send an e-mail to the student body.
“My assumption is that faculty all have their students on my.wartburg that it would just be easier for them to communicate with students and let them know what was going on,” Menzel said.
Both Hamm and Menzel addressed some of the student concerns.
Hamm said he understands that tuition is too high, but every student in America on every campus believes this.
The Student Senate executive team and Hamm have been talking about “The W” locker rooms for a year, he said.
“That thing is blown all out of proportion as a key issue in my mind,” Hamm said. “But obviously it is something that is more important to people than about anything else.”
Menzel said faculty evaluations and faculty workload are issues currently being discussed in various Faculty Senate committees.
“We are actually talking about the student ratings of instruction (SRIs) right now and the possibility of improving the form and the process. So that’s an ongoing conversation,” Menzel said.
Despite being unsure about the method in which students chose to voice their concerns, Hamm commented on the number of people in the crowd at his house Wednesday morning.
“We always say our school spirit at Wartburg is better than other places. I thought it was pretty impressive [Wednesday morning],” he said.
Menzel said it was good to see students caring about something because there will be times in students’ lives when they need to take a stand.
Menzel also said she hoped students receive feedback on Project Orange and are able to learn something from this.
“I have no idea whether the campus will be supportive or not supportive, I think it will be interesting to see as people reflect on what happened whether it is going to be effective or not so effective,” she said.