Editorial: Be involved year-round
USD students haven’t been quiet about their opinions on the Student Government Association’s passing of the General Activity Fee budget
last week.This isn’t a bad thing; students should voice their opinions to SGA. However, it appears that many students don’t participate in SGA business until a decision is made that they don’t
care for.
Kenzie Holton, SGA’s external communication manager, said students can help SGA be more effective when they actively participate in the process.“SGA is a body of less than 30 students,” Holton said. “We can’t see everything on campus, especially if students aren’t communicating
their needs.”
SGA has open meetings for a reason, after all. Students should be attending these meetings consistently, not only when an issue such as GAF is being discussed.SGA senators welcome and encourage students to reach out and tell them about their campus experiences. In the fall of 2016, there were 10,038 students enrolled at USD. By comparison, SGA is an organization of less than 30 students. It’s pretty difficult for them to get around to everyone, especially if students are only getting involved during GAF votes.
The only way to ensure that all students’ needs are met is by active participation by all students.With the upcoming SGA presidential election, it’s important that students actively participate with their vote.
By voting students into executive positions, students become a part of the process and put people they feel comfortable with into office. This makes it easier for students to reach out to their representatives and administration when they have an issue or concern, because they know who they are.
According to a 2013 Volante article, in only 2,000 students voted in the SGA elections. There’s no data for 2014 elections and only 1,201 votes were cast for the presidential election in 2015. Only a measly 988 students voted in 2016.
While a turnout of 2,000 isn’t too bad, only having 988 voters for an election is unacceptable.USD is a campus of more than 10,000 students and less than 1,000 took the time to vote. This means the 30 students who represent all 10,000 students were only chosen by 1,000 of them.How can students be upset with SGA if they aren’t willing to even take five minutes to vote?
Being an educated voter can be as simple as talking to the candidates while they table in the Muenster University Center. Being an active can be as simple as attending a meeting once a month. So get out and vote, attending meetings and make noise – that’s the only way students can impact the system to make USD theirs.
