As I’m approaching the end of my undergraduate career and considering the recent campus climate, I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on my time at Wooster: things I did well, things I could’ve done better and times I wish I had made an effort to do more. The last of those three thoughts has been on my mind the most, especially in relation to my consistent and significant involvement with the Wooster Activities Crew (WAC).
The organization has received a lot of critique in the past few years, and for good reason. Whether it was a consistent trend of white male artists at concerts, both small and big, or heteronormative comedians, there seemed to be a general lack of effort to consider any perspectives outside of those people in the organization (mostly straight and white).
Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely guilty of this myself. As a former director and vice president of the group, there were times that I could’ve done more, but even when issues were brought to the advisors by me and others, those issues — such as stereotyping groups on campus or ignoring concerns of members regarding those coming to campus — were brushed off as not being a big deal ‘yet.’
Why, in a group that has been receiving so much pushback due to almost a complete lack of diversity, would it be a good idea to let something escalate to a point that it could just lead to more conflict and unrest from the campus community? In the end, the group receives so much funding and, while it does offer a great service to the campus, there is almost no effort being made to work with or include other groups.
I really don’t want to sound like I’m just whining, but wow, I am so exhausted by the lack of accountability that WAC holds itself to. In the upcoming years, I really hope that the organization has the opportunity to change or adjust to better include everyone at Wooster; to my understanding it doesn’t have much of an option to do anything else.
Problematic people and members will be gone and hopefully the organization can rebuild in an inclusive way. If not, I hope that another process or organization can be created that makes its members feel welcome but also makes a significantly better effort to interact with the entire campus community instead of just catering to the wants of directors within the organization.
Sarah Vonck, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at SVonck18@wooster.edu.