At New Trier, students are granted an enormous amount of trust and freedom from the administration. We have the power to sit in the hallways, use our phone during off time, and decide for ourselves what to do during our free periods.

However, this trust is dwindling.

This past year, Student Alliance, the student government, was moved from ninth period to a third period class and their sponsors, Carolyn Gerhardt and Steven Drajpuch, were replaced.

Coinciding with the change of both sponsors came alterations to typical club operations. Student Alliance members used to have access to a Student Alliance specific email that was used to contact faculty and administrators. However, now it must go through the sponsor who can make edits to these emails before it ever reaches the eyes of the administration. This new protocol mutes and edits the authenic student voice.

Student Alliance was formed so it could express the voice of students, not the administration.  The change in protocol and sponsors seems to be an attempt to remove power from the governing body of the students.

The changes brought to Student Alliance highlight the weakening trust and understanding between the students and administration. But this diminishing trust did not start with the recent changes to Student Alliance.

Last year, New Trier administration blocked many apps that were important to students’ daily routines such as Snapchat, Facebook, and music apps including Spotify. This was a precursor for the rift of trust between the administration and students. Although these apps are no longer blocked, it still looms deep in our memory.

The current president has said that now they are acting in “accordance with New Trier regulation.” The student government should be free from such regulations by the administration, otherwise what is the point of a student voice if the administration edits it?

The regulations and changes that have occurred to Student Alliance have exemplified what most New Trier students think, that Student Alliance can’t make change. But it’s not because they aren’t trying, but because they aren’t allowed to. It’s ironic that the administration doesn’t want to hear our concerns through an outlet they created for that very purpose.

The same Student Alliance the administration created claims to be transparent. However, in repeated attempts to contact members, most would not go on the record. The one response we did get, however, was solicited with requests to view and edit the quotes before they could be published. These students do really care about our school and our needs, but their silence is not because of laziness but from fear of the administration’s disapproval.

Our Student Alliance should have influence on the direction of New Trier and should not be hindered from fear of the administration. Our voice is important, and how to improve New Trier should not be solely decided by administrators; students who walk the halls and experience it day in and day out should also be included in the process.

Our student government should be the middle man that finds compromise between the administration and the students, to create a working partnership.

In order to fulfill their mission statement, they must do that and we must have representation in policy making. Our unedited voice should be heard.

A voice isn’t just an outlet for people to express distaste in the world, its a powerful tool of expression that should not be drowned out. In the same way that the administration should not be in charge of what is published in this very newspaper, they should not be in control of our voice. New Trier is about the students and if the administration doesn’t start to realize that, they will continue to fall farther out of touch with the student body.