Originally published on May 31

The Dean of Students Office and the ASSU sponsored a town hall meeting last night to allow students the chance to share their views about the Office of Student Activities (OSA), Old Union and Tresidder Union.

One of the most prominent concerns of the assembled group of senators, Row house financial managers, chairs of Greek organizations and student group presidents, centered around what they characterized as a lack of both transparency and accountability on the part of the OSA.

"There's a huge sense that the OSA is judge, jury, and executioner," said Kat Kershner '08. "The same person hears a complaint against your organization, presses charges, decides your punishment and tracks how that punishment is carried out. When you need an objective voice, there is no one to go to."

ASSU senator Luukas Ilves '09 agreed, citing the need for an appeals process for students unhappy with OSA decisions. Ilves also criticized the "inconsistency and capriciousness" of OSA decisions.

"It seems that, when they are faced with similar scenarios taking place only a few weeks apart, they give very different decisions," Ilves said. "I wouldn't say their decisions are biased because there's nothing systematic [about the process], but the inconsistency makes it extremely difficult for student groups to plan events."

Other students disagreed with Ilves' assertion that the OSA was unbiased. They contended that student groups with a history of good management build up more credibility with the OSA, and receive faster responses to phone calls and emails which would otherwise be left unanswered for weeks.

"I feel that there's definitely institutionalized resentment on the part of the OSA," Kershner said. She criticized the OSA for failing to recognize the turnover that occurs within student groups, and for holding grudges against groups for the mistakes of their predecessors.

All of the assembled students agreed that the lack of transparency within the OSA encouraged obfuscation on the part of the student groups and Greek organizations attempting to navigate the OSA's bureaucracy.

One student who identified himself as "a member of a Row house who's had a lot of trouble with the OSA this year" was candid in his assessment of the OSA.

"The whole thing reeks of legalese and bad faith," he said.