The Student Government Association is an important facet of student life. They have many roles on campus, and represent the entire student body.
SGA has senators from each Residence Hall, Commuter Senators, Freshman Senators, and an Executive Board.
Currently, members of SGA are also on a Cooperative Activities board, which controls the funding of campus organizations.
While Cooperatives Actives may be dissolved into a financial committee in the future, they still have that control for now.
Many students participate in on campus organizations and activities which rely on funding. So why don’t they care more about who they vote to put in power in their Student Government Association?
SGA also approves every organization that meets on campus, so if a student was ever going to start a new club, they would have to go through them. Just by be being an informed voter, students could better understand who the members of SGA are, what they stand for, and how they are effecting life on campus.
Every spring SGA holds an election, out of which several parties emerge. These parties have platforms and executive board candidates running with them, just like a presidential election, or any election for that matter, would have.
While they might not be as black and white as Republican versus Democrat, SGA parties have unique views that students may or may not support.
And just as in other elections, students should back the candidate whose platform they find most agreeable, and who they think should be best fitted for the competition.
It isn’t a popularity contest, SGA does really make a big difference on campus, and we think students fail to see that.
This year, only 13.5 percent of students voted in the SGA election.
We don’t think that the needs of students can be truly voiced with such a low number of students voting in the election.
Students need to become more proactive with the happenings of SGA on campus, and elections are a good place to start.
More students need to take a stand on what is happening at the university around them, and get involved in the voting process.
Thirteen percent of the entire student body is not a good representation, and we hope that more students will vote in the future to take advantage of one of the many opportunities available on campus.
