Though I can’t speak with absolute certainty, I am pretty confident in saying that the UA student body’s investment in SGA elections is rather unusual. At most schools that my friends attend, nobody cares about student government except the student government kids. I guess our long, complicated, and quite frankly ugly history when it comes to SGA contributes to this, but at the University, the stakes just seem higher.
Yet, the students who get excited about SGA elections, actively campaign for candidates, and change their Facebook profile pictures for a week or two are certainly outnumbered by those who roll their eyes and point out that SGA doesn’t really matter. That it is a group of students holding meaningless, made-up positions and have no real power to actually affect students’ lives. This is untrue. The purpose of any student government is to serve as a liaison between the student body and the administration; to act as the face and voice of the student body; and to advise university, local and state officials on decisions that affect students. Whether or not we would like SGA to matter, SGA matters.
Others point out that The Machine has cheapened the legitimacy of SGA. I do not disagree. But to complain about The Machine’s dominance of campus government, then sit back and forfeit your chance to help undo the damage that has been done simply does not make sense to me. There is a growing group of students on campus who are dedicated to breaking down the corrupt power structure that The Machine has spent over 100 years carefully constructing. This is a necessary step in securing SGA representation of all students, and not just a select group of them, as well as ensuring that elected Machine representatives can no longer sit back for an entire year, do little to nothing to actually help students, yet remain confident in their re-election thanks to their massive voting bloc. I could go on and on, but in short, taking down The Machine means making SGA matter even more.
Next, the fact that hundreds of students are actively invested in SGA elections means that candidates are held accountable. If nobody cared about elections, candidates would be free to act dishonestly and make empty claims without fear of repercussion. But when you are being scrutinized by hundreds of peers, many of whom are unafraid to publicly denounce behavior they find unacceptable, this isn’t the case. This principle extends beyond election season-during the regular school year, elected representatives who know they plan on seeking re-election have more motivation to follow through on the promises that they made during the previous election season. Otherwise, they know that their inaction will be highlighted during their next campaign. When a large portion of the student body actually cares about SGA elections, we can help ensure that the “best of the best” are truly being elected to represent us and are doing their jobs effectively.
Finally, in a world where SGA didn’t matter and had no discernable impact on the student body, would the fact that a lot of students still cared about elections really be such a bad thing? The University, as with most any state school, has a reputation of only caring about football and partying. My experience, after three years of watching students get so excited about SGA, is that the University also really cares about government. Imagine if we had a reputation of caring about who represents us, about progress and encouraging positive change within government bodies. Caring about campus elections is a stepping stone to caring about local, state and federal elections. It teaches us to leverage our voices and to be engaged, vocal citizens.
So honestly, I love that so many students care about SGA elections. That’s why I am encouraged and not annoyed by all of the Facebook posts and the flyers passed out on campus. I expect the number of invested students to only grow in future SGA election cycles, and I can’t wait to watch.
