With the Student Government Association (SGA) president and upcoming executive board elections coming into focus, I am reminded of where I was this time last year and exactly why I quit SGA.
I was on co-op in Washington, D.C. and wanted to run for executive board, having become involved in SGA the semester before. Due to one of the eligibilty rules, I was not able to run for executive board. Looking back, this is one of the best things that could have ever happened to me.
Despite not being able to run, I still flew up to Boston for the elections (I thought I was running up until the day before so my tickets were already booked). For almost every executive board position, there were two people running.
SGA is about the student body. The elections should have been about who would do the best job in accomplishing SGA’s mission of serving the student body, but it wasn’t. It was much like the presidential election, which had already been determined by that point. It was about whose side you were on.
Chris Bourne and Joey Fiore were running for president this time last year. SGA was divided in such a way that the candidates running for executive board were either a Fiore supporter or a Bourne supporter and there was one of each running for every position. SGA seemed to split much like the American public in terms of Democrats and Republicans and people were no longer voting for the candidate, but rather for the “party.”
After the candidates give their speeches, the senators vote and the winner is announced before moving onto the next candidate.
After the announcement of one of the election results, the senator in front of me, disappointed that “his candidate” didn’t win, turned around and said, “It is a sad day for our side.”
Side? What side? We all have the same goal. We should not be asking whose side are the candidates on, but are the candidates qualified? Are they hard working? Are they passionate about helping the student body?
I noticed all too often that the SGA wasn’t about the students and what they wanted; it was about power trips and self interest. While I don’t doubt there are some senators who truly care, because I do know some who do, the majority of what I saw was not about the students. I feel a lot of that is supported by the simple fact that one of the things I most commonly hear from students about SGA is, “What exactly does SGA do for us?”
This year’s election, I see the same division happening. I see the same issues arising. And while I have the opportunity to vote for president, I feel the candidates, despite the fact that the senators seem to see a clear divide, are actually exactly the same.
– Nicole Keimer is a middler philosophy major.
