Student Leadership Council's dissolution leads to new leadership committees
Photo courtesy of Student Leadership Council
After 23 years of service, the Student Leadership Council made the executive decision to dissolve the organization on Nov. 17, 2021. The members are now transitioning into new roles and creating strategies to better serve the Lee community.
Over the past few years, SLC faced decreased engagement and a shift of positions within the council, contributing to the existing members’ November decision to dissolve the council. The council plans to continue its legacy of serving the Lee community through new collaborative efforts and renovating the original Campus Activities Board.
In the spring of 1998, the Student Government Association, Campus Activities Board and The House Steering Committee combined and launched the Student Leadership Council. Originally, the council held one chairperson and eight committees representing various areas of Lee such as Administration and Finance, Community Service, Minority Affairs, Public Relations, Student Events, Student Involvement, Student Leadership and The House.
Through the years, the council initiated changes in Lee’s environment by assisting in the formation of new councils, committees and offices. One of the councils the SLC helped form was the Mosaic Council, which was conceptualized by members of the Minority Affairs committee. SLC also provided the original plan for Small Group. Additionally, SLC set the tone for student collaboration through partnering with other areas on campus for events such as the Great Strides and 65 Roses 5k.
Along with supporting other areas of Lee, SLC organized Lee’s Operation Christmas Child initiative, which continues to be one of the most engaging service projects during the fall semester.
One of the SLC’s primary goals has been representing the needs of the student body and promoting positive change on Lee’s campus. SLC members pursued engagement through their ‘One Body’ mission by providing opportunities for leadership development and initiating change based on the needs of students.
In 2020, the council integrated additional areas of campus to create a more diverse representation of the student body. This new diversity resulted in an amendment within their constitution which allowed these areas of campus to be permanently represented within the council.
“Due to a lack of applicants from those areas, that goal wasn’t necessarily realized, which I think then offered the opportunity to take some more extreme steps,” said Director of Student Engagement Alex Staup. “That really committed us as an institution, as a sector in student development, to say, ‘how do we better hear the needs and concerns of students?’ I think that starts with some of the standing councils that we have.”
The council began including more areas of Lee in 2021. The previous chairperson, Mallory Smolen, led the initiative to open the council up to more peers, making a “more cohesive campus.”
“In a lot of ways, SLC serves campus to be a bridge across the different clubs and organizations along with administration, helping to provide spaces on campus for students to be involved,” said Smolen.
Upon deciding to dissolve, SLC created their own proposal which was voted on first by the Cabinet and then the Senate.
“We wanted to make sure that students came first, and it has always been about the students,” said senior psychology major and Student Leadership Council president Kaitlynn Fine. “If campus is changing, then Student Leadership Council also needs to change. We decided to begin this transformation process and started looking at proposals, trying to decide what would be the best route for Student Leadership Council to go.”
The council, along with the “trustees,” recognized the need for more student engagement. This student-led discussion revealed the need for a more provisional representative council and resulted in the dissolution of SLC. Currently, previous council members are forming a council involving student leaders from all areas of campus: Academic Club Council, choirs and ensembles, freshman students, Greek Council, Mosaic Council, recreation and club sports, Residential Life and Housing, Service Council, spiritual life organizations, SmallGroup, Student Athlete Advisory Council and transfer students. These representatives will meet monthly to share student concerns and provide input on institutional changes.
“In my eyes, we now have the chance to consider what a new role looks like beyond the Student Leadership Council, to continue in those durable core values,” said Staup. “It might be more of an extreme elastic strategy, but it is still an elastic strategy to provide the best experience that we can for students.”
Through this transition, previous Student Leadership Council Cabinet members are committed to assisting transitionary groups. While council members are not expected to fill in roles, they can assist any committee of their choice.
“If the Senate wants to be a part of this, we are willing to let them be a part of these groups,” said Fine. “Just because Cabinet is split up, does not mean that Cabinet will be the only people in these groups. We are working on a recruitment process to get more students involved, so if the Senate is like, ‘I really want to help with events,’ then we will plug them into the events committee.”
Previous SLC members created temporary transitory groups, focusing on amending two bodies of involvement: a Campus Activities Board and Servant and Leadership Training. The Office of Student Engagement will be supervising and supporting the efforts of both bodies.
Staup hopes the Servant and Leadership Training will expand into a “broader campus focus” and will include student leaders from all areas of Lee.
Fine said SLC’s focus of “students first” will be applied to the new roles and leaders.
“Anyone is capable of taking on these roles,” said Fine. “You do not have to have certain characteristics. Student Leadership Council is designed for all sorts of students to be involved, and even though it has always been Student Leadership Council chairing things on, it has always been about the Senate, and the Senate is different areas of campus. We are just providing larger roles for more students.”
Fine said her time in SLC has created opportunities and challenges, leading to personal development.
“It’s the best decision I have ever made,” said Fine. “So, leaving it is hard, but also knowing that I have the ability to push what I have learned through what we are doing now, providing that to the team I am working with, is a pretty good reward.”
Staup said SLC had a large impact on his Lee experience, not just as faculty, but as a transfer student. Staup served as Chairperson his senior year at Lee and remembers the experience as a pivotal aspect of his time as a student.
“It is the place I learned to love Lee, I learned to love Cleveland and learned to love the college experience, both in and out of the classroom,” said Staup. “It is one of the most formative aspects of my personal college experience.”
Looking forward, Staup hopes the vision and values of SLC continue within the Lee student body.
“For me, the most hopeful aspect is that the mandate of acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly doesn’t stop with an institution or an organization,” said Staup. “It doesn’t stop just with three letters, but it now has a chance to persist in new ways, which is really exciting. For us to integrate that aspect of our faith, and that duty of our faith, gives us a great opportunity to look forth and wonder what God might reveal to us next.”
For more information on leadership opportunities and involvement, reach out to the Office of Student Engagement at studentengagement@leeuniversity.edu or Alex Staup at astaup@leeuniversity.edu.
