Rose Bialk/The Mossy Log
A recent protest by the Nosy Advocates for Relative Communication (NARC) has sent massive shock waves through the community, sparking an intense conflict with the Student-Student Union (SSU). On Feb. 11, a large assembly of overbearing mothers and approximately three slightly concerned fathers picketed in front of the Frank Manor House. For weeks, the group has been calling on the college to conduct a formal investigation into the “stuff you have been really busy with lately.” NARC held signs saying “Is your phone on silent? I called twelve times,” “Si Se Puede: Track your Location” and “What is Track House and how many miles have you run?”
Following the protest, NARC released an official statement explaining their demands to the college:
“Following repeated unsuccessful attempts to communicate with our enrolled students, parents have raised concerns that there is not enough transparency from the school about all this ‘stuff’ with which our students have been claiming to be very busy. We as parents feel this ‘stuff’ is taking up too much of our precious little pumpkin muffin’s time and the college administration should be just as concerned as we are about this vague ‘stuff’ that takes priority over our calls. A formal investigation is needed.”
On Feb. 13, the SSU launched a counter protest. Student representatives waved signs such as “Sorry I missed your call, I have a lot of stuff going on,” “Keep Your Investigations Off Our Stuff” and “Build The Wall: Between Me and My Mom.”
The Student-Parent Communication Liaison S. Pine Less, speaking on behalf of the college, expressed his concerns on the escalating conflict.
“Student confidentiality and the student experience is of the utmost importance to the college… but we have to balance that ideal with the reality that the parents are the ones paying the tuition. After carefully considering all affected stakeholders, I am proud to announce that we are starting an ad hoc task force to draft a preapproval to approve a committee that will draft the investigation, pending faculty vote,” Less said.
After skipping out on our scheduled interview about the student’s concerns, SSU President Lei Z. Bounés ’27, issued an apology in lieu of comment.
“Oh sorry, I’ve just got so much stuff going on I totally forgot. My bad bro,” Bounés texted me hours later.
A Backdoor staff reporter relayed to me that they had seen Bounés, through the ground floor window of their Odell double, fumble a “Balatro” run by selling baron for credit card during the scheduled time of the aforementioned interview.
Sharon O. Pinion, vice president of NARC, shared her view of the conflict from a parent’s perspective.
“Well, I saw someone on the LC parent Facebook page mention this ‘finsta’ thing, and I thought if I found my daughter’s it might give me insight into this ‘stuff’ she’s busy with all the time. So I used my mom powers (paid my 9-year-old niece $5 to show me) and discovered that lots of this ‘stuff’ included posing for bikini pictures in the reflecting pool and mixing vodka with Yerba Mates in her Copeland quad,” Pinion said.
A formal conversation between NARC and the SSU is scheduled to take place Feb. 31 with moderation from Community Accountability and Conflict Education, which is a real thing they do.
“Holding space and respect for each concerned party is our primary goal,” Conflict Resolution Specialist and self-proclaimed holistic healer Al Weiss Hiye stated. “My suggestion is that each party takes a healthy dose of psilocybin and works it out together in the dream realm.”
For now, it seems that tensions will remain high between the concerned parents and indifferent students for the foreseeable future. So unless you have been too “busy with really important stuff lately” to finish reading this Backdoor article, ask yourself, “Is my parent really crazy enough to incite a riot over a missed phone call?” And if your answer is yes, maybe take your phone off Do Not Disturb, just this once and for the sake of us all.
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