Student government (group 6)
The Student Government Association at the Florida State College for Women was created as a result of the students complaining that they had no say in the way things were run on campus. To settle these complaints and increase compliance, president Conradi allowed a committee of class representatives to govern certain aspects of school. The committee governed exams and quizzes in the spring of 1912. This “student government” consisted of only a few juniors and seniors with roles of watching over exams to make sure students weren’t cheating. If students were caught cheating they had to report them to faculty.
The following spring, students approached Conradi with a request for self-government. This resulted in the creation of the Student Government Association. Anyone enrolled in the Florida State College for Women belonged to the Student Government Association (SGA). Faculty was in charge of nominating candidates for officer positions. Student government positions included president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, president of each dormitory, and a fire chief. The roles that these positons held were the same as they are today, with the role of the president of each dormitory reflecting the role of RA’s today. These positions made up the Executive Committee, composed of eleven members elected by the resident students. School-wide elections were held to elect the new officers.
The main duties of the Executive Committee were to preserve order on the campus and in the houses, promote honesty in academic work, maintain the social regulations of the college, and provide any suggestions for improved regulations. The Executive Committee formed a sub-committee which met every day to discuss behavior issues they had been seeing on campus. The role of the subcommittee was to investigate charges against students, restrict girls to campus, lecture individuals on moral or ethical issues and report to the Executive Committee and its Advisory Council, consisting of the College President, Vice President, and two other members.
Behaviors that would be reported to the Executive Committee included skipping breakfast, disrespecting the YWCA officers, flirting with boys who were standing at windows of the dormitory, visiting a friend in the dormitory during study period, misconduct in church, and dancing to ragtime music on a week night.
The College eventually modified the constitution, creating four new committees: the Welfare Committee, the Campus Committee, the Library Committee, and he Censorship Committee. The Welfare Committee was concerned with changes in the campus social or domestic life.
The Campus Committee inquired into all cases of misconduct on campus. The Library Committee investigated and reported any mutilation of books or magazines. The Censorship Committee watched girls for misconduct away from campus, or at any public function on campus, and reported any student who left campus without permission. Additionally, there was a Student Government Freshman Committee. The Executive Committee chose members of this committee shortly after the fourth month do the scholastic year. The freshman girls that were chosen were those who had exemplified and promoted the high standards of student government. The freshman committee’s role was to cooperate with the executive committee to help the freshman class understand student government and support them.
After WWI, SGA shifted its focus from petty infractions to the overall quality of campus life. The Executive Committee persuaded the Advisory Council to open motion picture privileges on Saturdays and Mondays, make breakfast attendance not as serious a charge, and allow girls to walk off campus after dinner until 7:45.
The rules on campus were very strict and the duty of the Student Government Association was to make sure these rules were followed.
Works Cited
Sellers, Robin J. Femina Perfecta: the Genesis of Florida State University. Flroida State University Foundation, 1995.