In light of all the election hubbub and outward political focus, there is one question students should be asking concerning their college-where is SGA?
Aside from first-year elections, the campus has heard very little from our elected student representatives. As students looked outward on the national election, our own student government and campus politics seem to have fallen to the wayside.
The upperclass students probably remember the almost omnipresent Robin Weinstein.
Every leader has a different personality and style; however, the absence of a prominent and outspoken leader may greatly impact how the SGA is perceived.
The first-years may adopt an opinion that the SGA is a defunct student organization that is a mere figurehead, a tradition that is kept for lack of anything better to replace it.
We know that this is not true because SGA has continued to impact student life and university policies. They have helped raise funds for the fitness room, added an extra day to move-in-day after winter break and submitted many other proposals.
Since there has been little news about current proposals that SGA is working on, we have cause to wonder about the involvement of the student population in campus affairs. Is SGA not looking deeply enough into the fabric of the campus community, ready to give those loose threads a pull?
As we have said in the past, a college campus can be a seedbed for revolution. Maybe students are statisfied with the status quo and are therefore not submitting recommendations and proposals.
If the election campaign frenzy and political excitement taught us anything, it should be a more vivid awareness of how important democratic systems are to the health of an institution.
We are all stakeholders in the campus community and the decisions that are made in this organization. Every student should have an invested interest in the policies and decisions that are being made at this school.
We are suggesting that students speak a little louder and that SGA digs a little deeper. Posting minutes on the SGA bulletin board is not enough. Minutes can give an overview of a meeting but are inherently ineffective in capturing the true essence of an issue.
Representatives, we want more than free food and giveaways. Engage us, challenge us and most of all communicate with us. We want to know what you are doing, even if it is nothing.
Students, the administration has done everything it can except go door to door to get you to speak out.
Silence indicates that there are no issues, no problems that could be remedied and no processes that can be strengthened or streamlined to make the university run more efficiently.
We commend those who have spoken; now, let’s do something.