To begin, Cardinal Points would like to offer a sincere congratulations to Kevin Clayton and the rest of this week’s winners for next year’s Student Association.
Your hard work and dedication put into this difficult task is commendable.
And now the challenge.
Yesterday, Clayton in particular was seen campaigning across campus, even down to the final minutes of the election, through access to various campus organizations and residence hall councils.
This seems to be an unprecedented move and one that struck the editorial board as impressively professional and responsible. Clayton and others campaigned on the premise of increased access and communication between the SA and the student body, citing past letdowns in those areas.
Clayton provided the example that some SA-sponsored clubs and organizations have not seen an SA official at a meeting in two years — a responsibility that is supposed to be filled on a monthly basis.
And this is not criticism for the sake of criticism — the Cardinal Points staff is aware of its own mistakes and errors and is currently in the process of reassessing its own policies and procedures.
But while Cardinal Points and the campus community is hopeful they will see improvements wherever possible, there is always that doubt on just how much can or will be done.
With that, we extend a formal challenge to the 53rd Legislation: Live up to the promises. We want to see the changes you campaigned for fall into place.
However, without reaching out to students like Clayton had done during his campaign, these changes will not be as effective as it should be. This is the hardest part of the job.
Sometimes students won’t go out of their way to walk into your office, whether out of intimidation, hectic schedules, laziness or whatever the reason might be. Perhaps going out of the way to build connections and forge relationships with various groups of students on a semi-regular basis will improve the SA’s ability to understand just what it is the students want.
Being in-tune with your constituency — just as the case is with real-life politics — is a key to success. The students contribute an SA fee to help pay for various groups and campus activities, so they should most certainly be the ones that have the most say.
These concerns are not saying that Cardinal Points expects the new legislation to fail in any way — this is simply a reminder that with newfound positions comes a new set of responsibilities.
At the same time, this is a great opportunity. Being in such a powerful position, the SA has the ability to change things on campus and make a difference.
We encourage you to set the bar high but also be realistic about what you’d like to accomplish during your term in office. Get students to understand what the SA actually is and what you do.
Though the majority of PSUC’s student body is fairly involved, there is still a large percentage of students who aren’t aware of campus news and events.
Encouraging these students to take advantage of the SA’s services should be considered a priority for newly elected officials.
So we ask: Do you want to go down as just another Student Association? Perhaps you might prefer to be remembered as the best this school has ever had.
Now wouldn’t that be something?
