As clubs such as Indigenous at Pierce and Queer Support face issues, Student Life seeks to find a solution.
There are numerous clubs and programs on Pierce College Fort Steilacoom’s campus which all serve a purpose – Helping bring people together who share a common interest or identity. Clubs can help students find resources such as a network or supplies, or just a chance to share common interests. Of course, clubs can’t do this on their own.
Student Life does its best to help the campus clubs. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t problems the clubs are trying to work through. This has brought to light an issue with some clubs feeling underrepresented, or even underfunded on campus. Recently, clubs such as Queer Support and Indigenous at Pierce have been dealing with such problems.
The Queer Support club, despite only being a year old, has been facing multiple issues. Club president Isaac Pennoyer said the group faced problems with getting transgender essential items, including binders and packers. These are items that can help transgender students with transitioning.
Along with supplies, Pennoyer said the support group is also dealing with privacy issues. “Right out the gate, people were questioning who is in the club, kind of insinuating that some students are not old enough, or mature enough to be in such a club,” remarked Pennoyer. The club does have Running Start students aged between 16 and 18-years-old, which Pennoyer states is mature enough to participate in the club.
Indigenous at Pierce has also been having problems, mostly concerning recognition and support. Club president Ashley Good feels as though Student Life isn’t doing enough to help refer Native American students to the club.
Ingenious at Pierce’s mission is to create a space for Native American and non-native students alike to share their experiences and be a part of a community. However, Good believes there could be Native students on campus who may not even know about the club or its intended purpose.
“I feel like maybe there’s been some students who didn’t understand what the club’s goal was, and felt their intentions were more important, and they didn’t really respect what the club is,” said Good.
Clubs aren’t the only groups on campus facing similar issues. Programs such as ASPIRE have also been faced with problems. This program is a grant-funded program whose mission is to support Asian, Pacific Islander, and low-income students.
ASPIRE’s Outreach Assistant Iopu Ignacio feels that the program isn’t taken seriously, such as students considering them as a club rather than a program. Ignacio expresses that when it comes to Student Life putting on cultural events, Student Life wouldn’t collaborate with ASPIRE unless they asked.
Up until recently, clubs senator John Shead and Student Programs Director Cameron Cox have been handling most of the clubs issues. “Usually
clubs have complained about something, they have brought it to us directly, and we try to work with them and accommodate them,” said Cox.
Student Life has relied on club council meetings to be the place that clubs address their grievances or make funding requests at. “One of the reasons why we have the club council is so students can bring up concerns if they have them,” said Cox. “If there’s things that they want to see improved, we want to make it a process that’s inclusive in that way.”
Cox said that he wishes to make these meetings more inclusive and reliable in the near future. This wish has led to Student Life creating the Student Engagement Specialist position this past November.
Walter Lutsch, Pierce College’s new SES, will do office administration work supporting the work done in student life and student government, as well as doing behind the scenes work to help campus events get running. Lutsch’s position also plays a big role in club affairs, including purchasing and reservations.
While the SES was never an official position until recently, Student Life previously had an admin assistant handling most of the campus club’s paperwork. However, when the admin left in July 2018, Student Life chose to take their time looking for a new person to take this position.
“We could’ve rushed to rehire the position, but instead I was looking at where we need help in student life, especially where student life is going,” said Cox. “We’ve always had a student worker in that role. And the students do good jobs, but the thing is that they graduate or transfer.”
“There’s a lot of things that clubs do, so there’s a lot of support that is needed. So when I had that opportunity to restructure the job, there’s a process that you have to go through to get a job like that restructured, and that’s why it’s taken so long.”
Lutsch started his work with clubs at Western Washington University, when he was a student starting a radio theater program. He became interested in the club processes there and was hired at their Club Hub. After graduating, he worked for two years at Whatcom Community College, before moving on to Pierce.
Lutsch will work with clubs when they have problems, or when an event needs to be planned. He will also collaborate with clubs senator John Shead, and make sure he and future clubs senators get the most out of their jobs.
While the new SES settles into his position here at Pierce, Student Life has slowly begun making improvements to the issues clubs have been facing. Activites between ASPIRE and Student Life have increased since last year, and the college president has since approved Queer Support’s purchases.
Muslim Student Association was ratified this Fall quarter, and according to founder Hamidu Bah, they have not run into any problems. Takuya Msutani, the president of the Taiko Club, also feels that his club is being supported at Pierce.
Clubs can file purchasing requests at the Student Life office, which are then voted on by the Clubs Council every other Monday. If a club has a problem, such as if there’s a purchasing error or if the club isn’t being respected, they can go to Student Life, and they can help as best as they can.
Looking forward, Lutsch hopes to bring his experiences from other colleges to help Student Life and Pierce Clubs.