The other election: discussing SGA's future

On Thursday, Nov. 17, our student body will pick the president and representatives of the Student Government Association (SGA). There are twenty-eight candidates running, and twenty-five seats on the general assembly; in fact, we can already confirm one of the winners—Emily Morton ‘18 will be the next SGA President, as she is running unopposed.

Initially, it appeared as if this year’s SGA election would be an improvement over previous elections. The campaign period was extended from one week to two, and plans were announced for a meet-and-greet forum for students to meet the candidates and learn about their platforms.

Unfortunately, campaigning—mainly visible through signs posted throughout campus—started on Monday, even though the period began on Friday, Nov. 4. The forum will occur as planned, but is being held for only one hour, and just one day prior to the election. This may leave interested students with an insufficient amount of information or time to make a decision.

We understand that most students will continue to either (a) disregard the SGA elections entirely or (b) treat it as a popularity contest. Neither of these are conducive to a healthy campus or a successful SGA.

Regardless of your opinions about SGA, it is important to remember what role it plays. Although The Weekly strives to be the voice of the student body, SGA is truly our representative voice on campus. SGA has the important conversations with administrators and campus-based committees for various policy changes. Moreover, it is the only student-run organization that can communicate with the Board of Trustees about student concerns. Of course, in perhaps its most well-known function, SGA allocates our money to other student organizations. Simply put: ignoring SGA is to your own detriment. Students who wish to see change of any type should direct it through the proper channels within SGA.

That said, there’s a shared responsibility between students and SGA.

At a recent SGA General Assembly meeting, a report was given by the Student Grant Committee on the allocation of $40,000 towards student-generated ideas for improving campus life. As reported by Nicole Case ‘18, the treasurer and chair of the committee, most of the suggestions were beyond the scope of SGA’s functions. This speaks to a larger problem—SGA has an incredible amount of power on campus, and yet they have done an inadequate job of explaining what exactly they can and cannot affect.

Last week, we encouraged everyone to vote in every election, especially those at the local level, and it doesn’t get much more local than the SGA elections. We encourage students who wish to improve the campus from all perspectives to vote, and then make their voices heard at the Spring 2017 SGA meetings.

Lastly, it should not, and will not, be The Weekly’s responsibility to publish information about SGA’s general role—that responsibility falls solely on them.

We commend SGA for taking the important first steps to improve its professional image, and we hope the incoming General Assembly will continue those important initiatives. That said, we recently reasserted our role as the watchdog for the Muhlenberg campus community, and we intend to continue to do just that.