Women Belong in Campus Leadership Positions

Alex DisneyClaire ParchemTHE SANTA CLARAFebruary 19, 2014 [dropcap]I[/dropcap]n week five, Patrick McDonell penned the article titled “Cam­pus Leadership: It’s Not Rain­ing Men Anymore.” As women on campus, we can only say to the As­sociated Student Government vice president: Preach it, brother!The lack of male leadership on campus is disgusting. In fact, the lack of male leadership in the history of the world is abhorrent. Who are young men going to look up to? One could answer every U.S. president and 95.2 percent of the Fortune 500 CEOs, but student leadership is so important!In his piece, McDonell used the example of student ambassa­dors. Too many women. This sets a terrible precedent for our future students. As soon as prospective students arrive on campus, they are more likely to be literally led around campus by a woman. How awful. We’re glad McDonell barely even entertained the thought that female ambassadors could have earned those positions on merit. It’s not like their hiring process is a rigorous set of interviews and ap­plications.Jokes aside, before we are ac­cused of misandry, having more male voices is not our problem. Our problem is that McDonell refused to acknowledge that women in lead­ership positions may have earned them, especially in a society where, as he wrote, “many organizations or positions on campus attempt to find some sort of gender parity, (mean­ing that) women have to compete much harder than men for the same positions.”Gender inequality is a real thing. It goes beyond little qualms like “Who’s on the Activities Program­ming Board?” and “Who will guide my tour?” Street harassment and date rape happen on our campus. Around the world, women in some places aren’t even allowed to attend school or drive a car.At Santa Clara, it’s easy to forget these are realities that millions face on a day-to-day basis. By insinuat­ing that having women leaders di­minishes the male perspective, are you also willing to admit then that no woman’s perspective has ever been articlulated from behind the desk in the Oval Office?Take note, men: If you want a position on campus, just apply! Ac­tually, don’t even apply, just show up and announce you are an underrep­resented male student. As McDonell put it, you are benefiting us all. But we are sad to say we cannot consider men as role models because they are not women and, as we all know, one can only consider someone a role model if they are the same gender.Women on campus should take McDonell’s words to heart and therefore adhere to this proclama­tion:Women, go to sleep and step down. Follow.Alex Disney is a junior English and communication double major. Claire Parchem is a junior