This, like most things I write, is
a compilation of my experiences,
my conversations and my
viewpoints over the longest
advisable tenure at Longwood
University. As a whole, we
don’t always do a good job
communicating to students
what’s happening on campus.
Because of that, it took me a
while to know that there was a
Student Government Association
(SGA). Frankly, I thought it was
cool that Longwood had such
intense student involvement. I
thought it was good that we had
a voice by which to communicate
our needs and legislate what
happened in our diverse student
body. Like Conduct Board,
SGA was something that I was
glad students could be a part
of, unhindered by faculty or
administration.
Time has informed my opinions.
I’m older and hopefully wiser.
I get emails about elections
opening and closing, about SGA
decisions and discussions of
allotments of money, and I have
to say, I have never voted and
know only a handful of the SGA
members.
Whether I know various people
or choose to vote is not the SGA’s
fault. If I wanted to vote, I could
vote; if I wanted to meet SGA
members, I’d make the effort. But
in this case, I’m in the majority of
student experience. Most of us
don’t intimately know the people
in our student government. Some
of us don’t even vote for them.
Part of this is student apathy.
We don’t care who’s shelling
out the money for Bandfest; we
just care that it happens. I think,
though, that we blame too much
on apathy. People care about
what reaches out to them, what
interests them; in essence, what
is catered to them.
In the end, does SGA do this?
Do they reach out to students or,
as their mission statement says,
“raise student awareness [and]
enhance the spirit of Longwood
University?”
The answer for me is, inevitably,
that they don’t always do
enough. A couple emails or the
seldom-announced openness
of SGA meetings on Brock
Commons is not enough to catch
the attention of the student body,
and, incidentally, it keeps us from
knowing about the important
issues.
The students, who are not
inclined to think SGA is an
important part of their lives,
don’t take part in the process
and thus have no control over
what happens. If students knew
more SGA members or voted
more, suggestions for campus
improvement would flood in,
ideas on how money ought to be
spent would be given each and
every day.
For those that say SGA is
already a big deal, that it doesn’t
need to remind students, I’ll
let them know that outreach
should be continuous. Students
should know what SGA does
and why it matters to them.
They should know that their
clubs are approved and their
philanthropies are rewarded
through SGA. They should know
that common day grievances
like an overheated library and a
dysfunctional tornado drill are
voiced at SGA.
In the end, SGA wouldn’t exist
without someone voting for its
members, being its members and
telling it student needs.
As with many things on
campus, the Greek community
is exceptionally involved. Out
of the 40 listed representatives,
senators and executive board
members on SGA, more than
half are involved in campus
fraternities and sororities,
according to the SGA website.
Though the Greek community
is a wonderful assemblage of
people, it’s a limited one.
Limited viewpoints, issues and
solutions find their way into the
SGA because they are the fraction
of students persuaded to pay
attention.
SGA provides a crucial
function to campus, but
they are passively excluding
opportunities for involvement
and limiting the knowledge of
people that could contribute. To
me, this is something we need to
correct. College is a place where
involvement and the roles of
later life are learned, but if we
can’t be involved in our student
government, then how can we
interface with our local, state and
federal governments when we
graduate?
There are some who might
argue that nothing is given to
you in life and that the students
involved in SGA are highly
motivated and thus deserve what
they get. To these people, I would
say that they are missing the
point of democracy. Viewpoints
are searched for, invited, not
selected out.
Of course, certain individuals
will run for office and create
political careers, but so many
others, unaffiliated, petition,
write letters and represent their
causes. If SGA promotes itself
more often as a body open
to suggestion, critique and
widespread involvement, it will
not be the work of a few people
but the function of a campus.
Whether or not this happens
right away, I suggest that regular
students come to SGA and sit
in the gallery, talk to senators
and executive members, look
for ways to contribute and ask
constantly about how and when
to run.
If students show that they care
about what SGA does, then the
organization may reach out to
more non-Greeks. We may see a
non-Greek as the next presidential
candidate. We may see an SGA
with more non-Greeks in elected
and representative positions.
