Mentions of “the administration” tend to elicit groans from student bodies across the country. If you ask students why they harbor such ill will towards the administration, you’ll often get answers along the lines of, “They suck at what they do”, or, “They make life difficult for us.” Although these statements are vague and broad, they do contain a myriad of truths.
At their core, college administrations exist to make sure that campus life runs smoothly and to protect the reputation of their institutions. While many individual administrators care deeply about student life and the well-being of the campus community, these desires to serve are often superseded by pressures to uphold image and reputation. We see the heart of these individuals in whisperings, murmurs, and off-the-record comments, in which they express desires to better serve the needs of college students in spite of the institutional norms that constrain them.Unfortunately, there are also subgroups of administrators who only care about the power and prestige that this position affords them. These administrators often engage in collegiate politics and power-plays as opposed to serving the legitimate needs of the student body.
Taking both subsets of administrators in tandem, it becomes more clear that students’ complaints are grounded in reality. Whether due to institutional pressures, power politics, or a combination of both, a multitude of colleges have been dealing with the aftermath of administrators unfairly adjudicating student conduct violations and improperly overseeing student life. For example, in the liberal arts sphere, Grinnell and Kenyon have faced scrutiny following publicized Title IX cases in which offenders did not receive adequate punishment or deterrence. The Ohio State University, along with other larger public institutions, has also dealt with allegations of unfair Title IX and student conduct policy and procedures.
While all students lose out when the administration acts in their own prestige and image-related interests, the students suffering the most are often the ones we don’t hear about. It is well documented that drastic institutional changes on the collegiate level tend to take place after periods of national scrutiny and widespread protests. These protests and scrutiny, however, are not often successful until a privileged student is violated by unfair administrative policies and decides to take action. Privileged students, with both the means and the public appeal to instigate changes, are therefore the primary officiators of administrative fairness. When complaints about a college’s administration reach national levels of publicity and scrutiny, it is often students with a certain level of privilege spearheading these campaigns. Be it racial, economic, or educational privilege, these students have the time, knowledge, and means to challenge the administration when administrative actions adversely affect their lives. Students without the time and resources that racial, economic, gender, and a myriad of other forms of privilege afford, are often forced to settle with unsatisfactory results.As a result, the way the administration functions necessarily provides a more free, open, and fair learning environment to students from privileged backgrounds. While the efforts of these students to combat administrative missteps are noble and yield promising results, their campaigns oftentimes ignore the ongoing struggles of students who identify with oppressed subgroups. Because structural inequalities prevent these oppressed students from seeking their own justice, they often must wait for a privileged student to spearhead a progressive campaign. This lack of agency fundamentally constrains the rights of oppressed student groups. It also feeds into the white savior complex, in which people with racial and other forms of privilege believe they must come to the rescue of what they believe to be their innately unable, repressed peers.
In sum, the problems with college administrations go deeper than the colloquial complaints that “administrations suck.” Structured power politics within college administrations not only diminish student rights and agency, but they also further perpetuate existing divides along lines of privilege. Next time you take up an issue with your college administration, keep in mind the privilege that allows you to fight for your rights. Be vocal about this privilege and the biases it perpetuates, and remember to critique the structures that enable your battles while silencing the voices of others.