Published Monday, May 10, 2004
SGA Denied Representation on Allston Task Force
Summers, Lagemann Deflect Request
By Eric Kinne
APPIAN STAFF WRITER

Three weeks after he sent Harvard President Lawrence Summers a formal resolution requesting a student representative on the Allston Task Force, Michael Novielli received a response. It wasn’t what the Student Government Association (SGA) Officer of Student Life was expecting: it was a no.

“We are currently at an early stage in the planning process for Allston,” Summers wrote. “I do understand that there are various efforts underway to consult more broadly in the future. To learn more about this, I suggest you get in touch with Dean Lagemann.”

Novielli did just that. Along with SGA President Minnie Quach, Novielli met with Lagemann to discuss the prospect of placing a student from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) on the task force.

According to Novielli, the dean didn’t support the SGA’s pursuit of student empowerment in the impending move.

“I am sad to report that our dean does not believe that student representation on the graduate school committees is very important and is unenthusiastic about pushing for us to have representation on the committee,” Novielli said in a recent e-mail.

Claiming that HGSE must adhere to a strict schedule established by the University’s central administration, Lagemann recently told HGSE faculty that they too would be limited in the amount of input they offer during the initial planning stages, according to Novielli.

“In my opinion, this is simply too important of a decision to be rushed along like this, and I really do wish that our dean would resist to adhere to this rigid schedule and advocate for us,” said Novielli, who represented his fellow students on a Columbia University advisory committee as the undergraduate student body president.

Quach agreed, stating that Dean Lagemann “basically criticized and discouraged the implementation of our suggestions while trying to argue that the lack of student representation is due to the faults of the central office.”

Although Lagemann would not state to The Appian her stance on student representation on the task force, she did redirect responsibility to individuals further up the hierarchical ladder.

“I do not make decisions about who sits on the task force,” Lagemann said. “The meetings are brief, infrequent, and very formal. They do not allow for much discussion or input.”

On May 13, the Allston task forces will release full reports to the public. Although the content of those reports is presently unclear, Lagemann said the SGA will be more effective in eliciting student representation if they “organize opportunities for discussion after the report is made public.”

While it may just be an unfortunate coincidence, the last day of classes at HGSE is May 14, one day after the reports are made public. If the SGA follows Lagemann’s suggestions, the remaining time between now and graduation on June 10 may not be adequate to advocate for student representation on the task force.

Regardless, Lagemann stands by her desire to hear students’ questions and concerns about the move. “We really want student input,” she said.

For additional coverage of the SGA’s efforts to secure student representation on the move to Allston, please see:
http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~theappian/articles/spring04/sgaasksforofficialvoice0304.htm

Eric Kinne, an Ed.M. candidate in the Language and Literacy program, is a member of the Appian Board of Editors.