McGregor. The SGA President
Looks At Grinnell, Students, Issues

by Don Dagenais

Student Government Association President
Russ McGregOr was elected to his office
last April gathering more than 60% or the
total votes from a ﬁeld of 5 candidates.
The turmoil into which he plunged would
be envied by few: the controversy over
the dismissal dt philosophy InstructorAlan
Nasser was brewing, antiwar protests were
soon to begin again, and debates were
still being heard campuswide concerning
black student demands of the college.

More than that, the role of student gov-
ernment at Grinnell had changed radically
trom previous years. As a result or the
"student power” movement begun several
years ago, students began to have much
more input into college policy decisions.
The job of SGA President is no ordinary
campus 10b; he must oversee, lead, and
control (it possible) the thrusting actions
of a diverse and talented student body.

McGregor, however, merely rests coni-
tortably, leans back in an easy chair,
and talks softly about the responsibility
of the student body on a Campus like Grin-
nell.

”Students at Grinnell are more powerful
now than they have ever been betore, and
that has Come about because we have all
the committees, we have redone the SGA
structure-ewe have ‘cleaned house.’ This
has been Very proﬁtable because it has al—
lowed SGA to really work with parallel
campus organizations such as CBS and
the women’s movement. There is a very
good rapport between student government
and the other organizations.”

Student interest covers a wide range of
subjects, McGregor teels, and the many
student groups on campus canallcontribute
to the detinition at what the students want.
HE is particularly interested in the role
of the Concerned Black Students.

”Now a lot of black students are in SGA,"
he says, noting that the Social Coordinator,
North Lounge Chairman, SGA President,
and several hall oIiicers now are black
students. “CBS has really kind oi spurred
things on. CBS is the reason for the thrust-
ing about. . . ,the organization has always
taken the burden for the ﬁrst step, in a
lot ot ways. it is not easy to say that
things are wrong, and so there’s got to
be something drastic. Now CBS is work—
ing very closely with sea."

Such groups will undoubtedly assist in
helping solve the problems which now
face the students at Grinnell.

“What we want to do with all the stu-

dent power that we have is the important
question. And here we aren’t going to as-
some the breakneck speed we had last
semester. . . .It comes down to: Whatdo
we really want Grinnell to be like?”

New students can assist student govern»
ment in the task by serving on the many
committees which now havepositionsavail-
able, “And it they don’t want to get in
the committees, they can get involved in
the parallel organizations. Really, we’re
all working for the same thing now. That’s
clear to all of us,”

McGregor sees the Student Coordinator’s
oitice as playing a major role in the pro—
cess. Craig Kugisaki, the new student Coor-
dinator, “views himself as an ombudsman
affiliated with student government in that
he‘s got to know what is going on, but
very directly he will be associated with all
students. He’s got to be ﬁnding out what the
students think.”

Now that Grinnell Students have the power
to make their interests felt, McGreEor SUE-

gests that the old crisis»oriented, mass—
meeting way or doing things will iade into
the background. "Not that it isn’t healthy.
but now there are just so many avenues
to go through that there is really no need.
We may have mass meetings, but the
chances at it being a spontaneous thing
aren't good,

“Maybe something spontaneous will come
up, but i know one thing: anytime you
imd anything like that, you'll find student
officials in it, Not On a catchrup basis, but
at the outset,"

The role or student government, then,
will be as active participant and leader
in the student interest if Russ McGregor
has anything to do about it. The old days
of student powerlessness are Over. “We
have,” he says, “the ability to try to
change things, and with that ability comes
a lot oi responsibility. We’ve got to do
something about where we want the place
to be going."

 

