The Purpose and Ethics of the Student Council Constitution

Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic Republican statesman from the 19th century, once stated “As new discoveries are made, new truths are discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances advance also to keep pace with the times.” On the other hand Bernie Sanders speaks of the American Constitution from a loyalist perspective, stating “The U.S Constitution is an extraordinary document. In my view, it should not be amended often.” Both of these statements are equally meaningful in the context of StuCo, and are both indispensable values to consider. By means of this article, I intend to investigate how the idea of keeping moderate yet valuable amendments is sustained. Simultaneously, I will be exploring the significance of StuCo at large. This is invaluable information to make sense of, for the Student Council as a whole is a foundational framework and structure for legislative roles that defines leaders present in Woodstock, the multitudinous responsibilities that contribute to various facets that contribute to Woodstock’s sustainability for students.

To contextualize the motives involved in the creation of the Constitution, I first reached out to Ashray, the Constitutional Advisor representing Grade 10 who has acquired a great extent of knowledge in the Student Council. I first asked him about the purpose and importance of the Student Council Constitution. He responded by saying that it essentially is a foundational document for student leaders as it outlines the legislative processes, voting, eligibility criteria and simultaneously the responsibilities, and more importantly promotes transparency for the benefit of the council. This is quite an elaborate explanation that accentuates the significance of the Constitution. But to conclusively come to an understanding of what his opinion is on amendments, I asked “Do you think it is important to make perpetual amendments for the betterment of the Constitution of StuCo?” To this, he responded by saying that alterations to the Constitution are important to some extent, but those changes need to be minimal as there should be a strict emphasis on structure, stability and consistency.

After this conversation with him, I realized that he recognizes the importance of establishing a sense of procedural continuity when speaking of how he wants to implement this Constitution as an advisor. However, in my belief, this position demands making amendments to a greater extent.

In the second article, the Constitution vividly discusses the structure, roles, and responsibilities of the Student Council, outlining the composition of the executive board. Simultaneously it focuses on the various student roles that reshape the overall attributes of Woodstock as a whole, and what purpose is served. In article three, the legislative process is very clearly brought up. This includes procedures involved during proposals, debating and discussing amendments. The eligibility criteria elaborated regarding the student body is also explained in quite a scrupulous manner. On the other hand, there are still some ways in which the Constitution could be altered from my viewpoint in order to have a more profound systemic impact.

An issue I found is that is the two thirds majority voting requirement. Inherently, there is no problem stemming from this; however the issue with this specific Constitution is that it is not clear how exactly amendments are ratified, and come to terms with by individuals within the council who have authority over the Constitution. And in fact, another realization I have come to is that this could create some polarization and conflict regarding the acceptance of the amendments by the stakeholder. 

The Constitution is scrupulous and elaborate, so making sense of every flaw would be equally strenuous. What I am trying to get across is that persistent amendments are invaluable. There are a plethora of facets within the Constitution that could be developed as the system works towards the benefit of the community. Therefore, in my belief it is imperative that we make these amendments, while providing opportunities to propose amendments to everyone. This will make each individual in the Woodstock community feel as though the Constitution truly does reflect their experiences and perceptions. A streamlined process for accessible amendment proposals would be an online survey, which could help reshape the Student council, in a tremendous way. After all, we each have perspectives that are irreplaceable and beautifully idiosyncratic. Surveying for amendments is a leap to a community that is unified.

Paranjay is a staff writer.

Edited by Asha and Aryaman.

Photography by Medha.