Last Thursday, I went to my first Student Assembly meeting. It was a last minute addition to weekly events, so I said why not.

To my surprise, this meeting was very official and intense. The panel of SA members sat in a semicircle facing the audience. They had name cards and there were microphones placed around the room. Speakers who had issues they wanted to bring forth were given a seat in the middle between the SA and the audience, facing the panel. It was very crowded and more chairs had to be brought in.

The first issue I heard about was the table problem in Duffield. A recap of the problem was that students complained that there were not enough tables for student to study at in the atrium. Some observations were made that there was indeed enough tables because there were several big tables that only had one student at each table, resulting in a waste of space. I personally think that it okay to join other students at a table, especially if there are no other seats. Since you’ll both be doing work, there is no need to worry about distracting the other person. Who knows, maybe you’ll make a friend or a study buddy! The issue was not resolved and was actually “tabled” for the next meeting.

The next order of business that was important was President Garrett and Vice President Lombardi. This was the first time I heard the president speak and I was quite impressed. Her background as a female lawyer makes her a very interesting addition to the institution. It was also her first time at a student assembly meeting as well and she was as impressed as I was.

Big themes for the president are freedom and responsibility and that was apparent in her address to the SA. She stated that she wanted Cornell to set the pace for other universities and highlight the interdisciplinary stature of the university. She wanted the student experience to dictate what the university experience was like; incorporating student input and feedback is crucial to this process. She wants to have a freedom of discussion, however this discussion must not disturb the business of the university. She placed a lot of emphasis on having robust dialogue but also maintaining a level of respect for each other and rationality.

I agree with all of these points, especially her point about us taking care of each other as students and peers. I agree with her completely when she said that as students, we have the most influence on other students. The administrations side of Cornell can only do so much. If they pass rules that we must follow, it’s up to us to follow through and respect the rules. She is one hundred percent right in saying that the university can only do so much and go so far. I think it’s a message to us as students to do our best and look out for each other.