Last week the Student Union Park served as a battleground for preacher David Grantham and the Southeastern Sociology Association (SSA) when Grantham’s sermon disrupted the SSA’s Brain Injury Awareness Day (BIAD) event due to conflicting schedules.
The cause of this scheduling mishap has been attributed to several factors, including poor planning on the SSA’s part. Jim Mchodgkins, vice president for Student Affairs, claimed that the SSA was indecisive about the location of the BIAD event.
“That’s where he [Grantham] was to be,” said Mchodgkins on the SSA’s wish that Grantham relocate during the BIAD event. “The brain injury awareness group wanted to change their location. I’m not moving someone who’s already gone through the procedure because you want to come in and move someone, because then we can be in trouble because I’m not allowing free speech for people. If the [SSA] would have asked for that section prior to him doing it, then we would not have placed him there. I don’t run off a group just because another group says ‘We want to have this area.'”
Amy Edwards, co-president of SSA, faults the bureaucratic process of getting approved for an event for the conflicting schedules.
“People generally appreciate bureaucracy for its hierarchical organization, delineated lines of authority, clearly determined rules and the fact that those rules are implemented by neutral officials,” said Edwards. “However, bureaucracy works from a means-ends standpoint that does not necessarily consider the reason for either the means or the ends. Bureaucratic officials and workers are supposed to be very technically trained. When an institution lacks funding and finds itself in the position of having to hire under-qualified, part-time employees in order to cut costs, its ability to maintain functioning organization may be compromised.”
Although Edwards does find the bureaucratic system to be flawed, she holds no ill regard for the Office of Student Development.
“I am sure that whatever happened, during the process of processing the paperwork for Brain Injury Awareness Day (BIAD), that prolonged the approval of the event unnecessarily and unfortunately scheduled David Grantham for the same day in approximately the same space, was a mistake,” said Edwards. “The Southeastern Sociological Association (SSA) is not upset with the Office of Student Development. They have been nothing but helpful in the past. It is true that sometimes SSA struggles with the bureaucratic process, but we accept it for what it is. SSA would like to thank the Campus Activities Board (CAB) for being exceedingly helpful with BIAD and providing technical support.”