If Joseph Stalin was still alive he might want to come aboard and apply to be the next president of the college.Why Stalin?

Think about it: Stalin’s legacy in history will go down as the man who purged millions and allowed many others to starve to death. He did all this while preaching total loyalty to the government. In other words, he would be a perfect fit for the Guilford Community.

Maybe I am being a little extreme in comparing certain people in this school to Stalin. While people at this school certainly don’t turn to death as a way of solving their problems, the school does seem content in making sure all of its students are keep it in line. For those who disobey the consequences are swift and harsh.

Perhaps the clearest example of all this is the debate over the appropriate uses of chalk in the Bryant Quad. The school saw chalk all over Bryan and told its residents that if all the chalk was not removed, they would be fined in the same fashion you would be fined if you were caught with an open container of alcohol. You heard it right, folks, chalk is now a controlled substance.

Rather than flat-out refusing to remove the chalk, a petition was sent around and all residents of Bryant would agree to remove all words written in chalk and the school, in turn, would allow students to leave up artwork done in chalk around the building.

All the residents of Bryan signed the petition and when it was received by the Residential Life Committee they then proceeded to (metaphorically speaking) extend their arms, turn over their wrists, and lift two very unfriendly fingers.

These problems are also not exclusive to Residential Life, however. All across the Guilford Administration, the rejection of student input has been disgraceful and reprehensible.

The changes in alcohol/drug sanctions done intentionally over the summer, the changes in dining hall hours, and the elimination of chips in the smart cards are all examples of decisions made without student representation or proper input and they have left the student body stagnant.

The school has become too concerned with the length of time it would take to make these changes while involving the student body. Therefore it subverts a process of consensus and committees that students are required to follow in many aspects of their college life. The school is telling us that we should do as they say and not as they do.

How do we as students release ourselves from the oppression that has been inflicted upon us by the people that run this school?

We need to come together and combine our power as a student body. While the individual person is highly respected on this campus, an individual cannot accomplish this alone. The power of one now is meaningless, but the power of all 1,246 students can make an incredible impact.