A Letter from the Students to the Administration

By Anthony Allen and Paul James, guest writers.Editor’s Note:The following is a letter submitted from students who are concerned over the changes to the Student Activity Building. The letter does not necessarily reflect the views of the NYIT Chronicle or it’s Staff.For freshman coming in to the school, the Student Activity Building (SAB) was the place where they created their first bonds with other students. It was the haven for students in which they created that memorable experience that should be NYIT’s hallmark. The students who were actively spending time in the SAB were the same students you would see return as sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The reason that many, many people leave NYIT is that they feel that this isn’t the college experience they’re looking for. Many deem NYIT a commuter school, including some of the faculty. It shouldn’t be deemed such. The students who helped develop the activities and the sports programs work hard to create more involvement on this campus, and their work makes it a better experience for students, incoming or otherwise. The students did advocate for a food service program and are happy that we have received one this semester, however, the food services program was supposed to be a compliment the students’ relaxation area. It was a place to be between classes, a place to play games with friends, and a place to create and sustain friendships with their cohorts on this campus. Instead what we got was a slapped together food service program that took over 2/3 of the building that was our sanctuary from the stresses of college.And to add insult to the injury of the near-total loss of our space, Dennis Camacho — the Student Activities Director, has recently handed down a hasty and irresponsibly bad decision to sever us from our last toehold of student space on the Manhattan Campus after 5 PM because of “Security Issues”. We do not deny that there was vandalism, but many had asked for security cameras and various other measures that would have made it safe while preserving it’s vital function as the sole remaining student lounge.But our suggestions made every appearance of going in one ear and out the other, and there is no clear chain of command for us to appeal to, so our only recourse is this letter. There needs to be something else we can do, but a discussion of this school’s inability to track suggestions is outside the scope of this letter.This was supposed to be an area for late night students to stay while awaiting their final classes of the day. What happened now is that Dennis wants to close the second floor to only a small group of students involved in clubs and activities housed in the second floor of the SAB after 5 PM, and that those students need to have Security check their ID’s in order to ascend the stairs.Every student attending NYIT pays the Student Activity Fees — we should all benefit from our Student Activity Building. What’s the point in collecting the Student Activity Fees if the main and only venue for the events and things those fees fund has been closed to the students? If you’re going to go through the hassle of getting Security to check ID’s at the door for that limited few that can go upstairs, why not just station a security guard upstairs to supervise the lounge when Dennis leaves for the day?Last year the three floors of the Student Activity Building served the students in slightly different ways. The basement had video games and a pool table, the first floor had a decent-sized lounge area and the bookstore, and the second floor had a small lounge and the offices for various clubs and activities. Now the basement is a food storage locker for the food service kiosk on the first floor (the basement storage is troubling due to the sewage flood down there a few years back), and the last bit of student lounge space is that small lounge on the second floor, about an eight the size of the prior lounges.That small lounge is now expected to house the same numbers of students that were spread over two floors? Yes, that lounge gets far noisier than it should be, but it is our sole remaining scrap of student lounge, and that is the full fault of the administration. You have taken away all but a sliver, and you expect that sliver to hold all and remain the same?This is a College — not a High School. We pay to be here, and for that payment the school is obligated to serve us, and to serve us fairly. It does not. The administration remains a black box — difficult to talk to, difficult to understand, and handing down decisions affecting students with little to no student input. This is plainly unacceptable. and it demeans the student body. We are not High Schoolers obligated by law to attend. We vote, some of us drink, and we all make contracts as adults. If the school insists on treating us like children they will find us voting with our feet — this city does not lack for institutions of higher learning, and at least we can rest assured that at those institutions we would stand a better chance of being treated as an equals.