On September 28th, Smith’s Senior Class President Jane Casey-Fleener ’21 launched a petition titled: “Bring Class of 2021 Back for Spring Semester.” The purpose of the document is to gauge the interest of senior students in returning to campus for an in-person semester. Casey-Fleener says she started the survey after she heard news of parent-run Facebook groups hoping to bring first years and sophomores back on campus next semester. She said, “while I see the importance of it, I think the main priority should be the seniors. So with some input and advice from members of SGA cabinet, I launched the survey.”
Her petition description acknowledges that the decision to hold a remote fall semester was “made with health and safety of students in mind, and [was] the right call to make”, and hopes that the Smith administration will consider bringing seniors back only if the conditions are safe. As of October 19th, the petition has 191 signers, and Casey-Fleener plans on sending the petition to administration once it reaches 250-300 signatures.
Smith has not yet publicly announced its decision for the Spring 2021 semester. In an October 6th email, President Kathleen McCarthy said that the college is still monitoring public health conditions surrounding COVID and planning for several different scenarios. Smith will consider the outcome of peer residential institutions who decided to offer in-person instruction this fall, local and national health trends, prospects for treatment and vaccines, and changes in public health regulations. Students can expect to hear the plan shortly before winter break, which starts December 18th.
Casey-Fleener ’21 gave The Sophian updates on a couple of other SGA initiatives for the 2020-2021 school year. One of SGA’s most important goals is to improve accessibility on campus, while others include creating more handicap accessible entrances and exits and better accessibility in dining halls.
Another goal for Casey-Fleener as Senior Class President is to build an online community for seniors to connect. “I think oftentimes SGA gets a bad reputation because people think we work closely with admin and relay information and advice from them, which is simply not true. We are our own entity and we make decisions on our own. That being said, it seems like admin has an unrealistically positive attitude about everything going on right now. In reality, we’re all struggling!! Some more than others. I don’t think we should try and kid ourselves or pretend like everything is ok. So my goal for our class is to support each other and create a safe for us all to talk and vent when needed.” Some seniors have reached out and expressed feeling disconnected from the class, she said, especially because many students study abroad in the spring of their junior year. She hopes to bridge this divide through hosting events, creating a support network, and maintaining motivation to bring seniors back in the spring.
Casey-Fleener also spoke a bit about graduation ceremonies for both the class of 2020 and 2021. Last spring, previous Senior Class President Toula Sierros ’20 launched an online campaign to ask the administration to hold an in-person graduation ceremony for the class of 2020 in May 2021, since they did not have one due to the pandemic. Casey-Fleener said, “While we haven’t heard anything officially from the admin regarding graduation, Toula and I are ready to address this and will continue to be communicating about this as we approach the spring/graduation…We agree that we would love to have our grad ceremonies back to back or even do some sort of collaboration with the class of 2020.”
Lastly, Casey-Fleener touched on the current student fight for fair tuition: “Firstly, I will say that I stand in full solidarity for the student fight for fair tuition. Additionally, part of my platform will be advocating for financial literacy and more transparency from financial aid. This has been a huge issue for students and I realize how stressful and frustrating it can be to feel like your needs aren’t being met. We NEED to do better, and this will be the first step.” Her platform this year will also focus on career services for students including access to online job fairs, networking events that are tailored to specific majors, and working on the budget to give seniors a memorable senior ball, senior week, and other senior traditions.
SGA’s Senate and Cabinet generally hold closed meetings, but the student organization is always welcoming new members. If a student would like to sit in on a meeting or has questions about joining SGA, they can reach out to Vice President Talia Deady ’21J at SGASenate@smith.edu.
