This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Conn Coll chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

When Fishbowl was canceled, senior class members were alerted through an email message. Because the administration did not send the message to all members of the campus comunity immediately, many rumors spread quickly about why and how the event was canceled. Although talk of the event cancelation had been at a dull roar for the last few weeks, frustration has resurfaced in an anonymous email sent by “A Concerned Camel”. Members of the class of 2013 received the following anonymous email, in this format, on Friday March 1:

Subject: In The Name of Fishbowl

Hi everyone,

I’m a current Conn senior, but I wish to remain anonymous. For now at least.

The fact that the administration cares so much about our opinion on GenEd reform but didn’t care at all about our opinions of Fishbowl got me thinking.

A lot of us are still pretty upset about Fishbowl, right? But it seems like nothing’s going to be done about that. How can we show the administration that they really messed up by not soliciting our opinion of Fishbowl? Could we do a peaceful, respectful protest like a sit-in? Nah, ain’t nobody got time for that. The only way I can see a statement being made is to boycott senior giving.

In the past couple years, senior giving participation has been 98-99%. We can make a statement by posting a percentage significantly lower than that this year. The administration will say, “Hey, why did only 50-80% (whatever the percentage ends up being) of seniors give this year, when last year’s class set a record with 99%?” And we can tell them why: because they cancelled one of the most cherished events of the Conn experience without soliciting the opinion of a single student.

I don’t mean any disrespect at all to the Senior Giving Committee. I have absolutely nothing against them. In fact, I think that being part of the Senior Giving Committee is quite respectable.

But we have to show the administration they messed up big time. And I can’t think of any other way than this.

Please join me in standing up for shared governance. The administration needs to know that this apathy and indifference towards the opinions of students just isn’t right.

All the best,

A Concerned Camel

There are mixed reactions from seniors, staff, and underclassmen about this proposal. Many students are skeptical of the connection between Fishbowl being canceled and the act of Senior Giving. The Senior Giving Committee co-chairs provided the following statement to Her Campus in response to the Concerned Camel and the topic of Senior Giving:

The focus of Senior Giving is not dollar amounts, but participation and the collective opportunity as a class to advance the College as a whole. Donors can direct their donations to areas like financial aid, the library, and faculty support, which have an immediate impact on the students and programs on campus today. Using Senior Giving as a protesting mechanism hurts the programs already in place and students who already attend Connecticut College. Furthermore, a decrease in participation lessens the chance of the College finding grants and corporate support and even hurts the College’s rankings. Our degrees are strengthened by the good reputation of Connecticut College, and participation in Senior Giving helps build this reputation.

In short, Senior Giving is a chance for our class to help future Camels has amazing experiences, just as the alumni of previous years did for us. Choosing not to participate doesn’t hurt the administrative functions of the College, it hurts the students who are about to embark on the same experience we have nearly completed.

The Senior Week Committee is working towards developing new ideas and activities for the senior class. The event to replace Fishbowl has not been announced yet.

Anonymous Senior Urges Fellow Classmates to Withhold Senior Giving

We wanna slide into your DMs