When in the course of a pupil’s education a proposal comes into formation for a new policy that would severely disrupt the livelihood of students, we cannot be expected to remain silent.

During the past few months, the Upper School administration has been pondering a policy that would limit student leadership positions in certain areas. In recent weeks, the administration has moved forward to implement the aforementioned policy. The areas to be limited have been called “non-negotiable outcome” activities, meaning that the included activities must exist in the school. The proposed policy would limit students to taking on only one leadership position in those selected “non-negotiable outcome” activities.

This policy, however, is not limiting but inhibiting. Such a policy would take away from the high school experience -- in such a way New York City high schools do not -- in addition to stunting the growth of students as individuals and leaders.

We, the undersigned Upper School students of the Packer Collegiate Institute, hereby request your utmost immediate withdrawal from this policy and your promise not to return to such a policy until the Class of 2009 graduates, thus preserving the sanctity of this request for all undersigned students.

Furthermore, we find the concept of “non-negotiable outcome” activities to be flawed, since any activity is negotiable. While some activities at this institution have a long and rich history, that does not automatically make them “non-negotiable.” We question the selection of “non-negotiable outcome” activities to be limited to student government organizations and some student publications. The foreign language literary magazine Variations was not included, nor was the politically-minded publication Soapbox. Additionally, other activities such as sports, theatrical productions, and musical groups have not been included, sending the false message that such activities could easily be done away with.

While the policy is perhaps intended to help manage workload, such an exclusion of other time-consuming activities as well as the absence of any comment on a rigorous academic course load leads such a notion of the policy to be regarding time management to be refuted. The one clear and underlying meaning of this policy is a personal attack from the Upper School administration targeting a few, select individuals in this community at the expense of other students. Such a concept is surely unacceptable in an institutional setting.

The proposed policy to limit student leadership positions is not only unfocused and weak, but is detrimental to the pursuit of happiness and the development of students this institution prides itself on. Therefore, we, the undersigned students, in name declare our petition against the policy and our want for its annulment.

We request the administration to respond in the affirmative by the morning of Thursday, June 15 in writing through a message posted in the front hall and first floor locker area and/or through an electronic message posted to the US Students folder.

The student voice is an expression that is powerful and cannot be ignored. Dismissing it would be to dismiss the very minds and bodies it represents, without which an institution cannot flourish.

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