By Blinders Tunnelvision
Every year, a small group of passionate students come together on Facebook, Twitter and in student media organizations to yell at each other over the most important issues facing our campus. The event? The University of Massachusetts Student Government Association’s spring election for president, vice president and student trustee.
As we all know, our elected student leaders have immense influence on the decisions of administrators and the Board of Trustees. Take last year’s electronic dance music concert ban. SGA President Zac Broughton’s objections immediately overturned the decisions of the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life. At the first sign of concern, administrators chose to listen to the student leadership and take actions to support students’ rights.
The same thing can be seen at the Board of Trustees. While only two students are allowed to vote on a board of over 20 people, most of whom are political appointees, fees and tuition for students have been dropping for years. The high cost of a college education, even at a public university founded to provide education for all, is the major issue facing students. And when the Board of Trustees heard about the extreme debt burden put on many working class students who are just fighting to be better citizens, they took action.
Now, thanks to our powerful student leaders, UMass is cutting the price for students.
The same goes for the formerly sad state of humanities facilities, like the Fine Arts Center. Last fall, many arts students began writing letters to the Chancellor and other administrators and deans to protest the dangerous state of facilities, particularly those used for theater and dance. Students in the dance program used to practice on ancient, hard floors, sometimes forcing multiple knee surgeries on young dancers who need their bodies to practice their craft.
As these accusations came out, SGA officers took up the cause of “What the FAC?” Equal in power to administrators and faculty, student leaders walked into their offices in Whitmore Administration Building and ordered a review of dance and theater facilities. While we’re still waiting on the results of the review, it’s clear that our elected leaders have the power to change the status quo.
Having equal management of the University budget, shared authority over University decision making and representing the concerns of students far better than any administrator, our student leaders are particularly suited to make a difference in the lives of undergraduates.
Without them, there is no doubt that administrators would overrule student opinions at every turn, or that Whitmore would pit students against each other to debate the minutiae of RSO funding and agency advisory boards instead of the issues truly important to student life.
Blinders Tunnelvision is a Morning Wood dingus and can’t be reached.
