S.L.A.M.: Visionaries collide to revive campus culture

On January 12th, the Student Government Association (SGA) held a Senate meeting to discuss several topics and issues relevant to all students on campus. One of those topics the “Amendments” that were recently passed by SGA, which has caused quite a stir among the student body.
There has been a lot said about meeting in the past couple of weeks. The amendments that were discussed are based on the process by which a student is allowed to run for a top tier position with SGA. It entails that one must be a part of SGA on year in order to run for a position like SGA President or Chief of Justice.
The S.L.A.M. movement has become a prominent entity on campus as they first appeared at the senate meeting. The turnout from the senate meeting was like no other. Different campus organizations showed up in numbers. As things became hectic at the meeting, S.L.A.M. and a few other groups staged a walkout. The jurisdiction was postponed but that didn’t stop the chatter.
After the meeting, students began to talk about how powerful the walkout had been and what it meant to them. For each student who expressed a grievance, the walkout somehow gave them hope. For all of the students who are tired of being let down, misled, and overlooked it felt good for them to have witnessed real action of Southern University’s campus.
A lot of people including the students, faculty, and custodians feel as though SU’s campus culture is messed up. I can personally attest to that. I have a list of grievances a mile long. I personally would like to know where all of the money that I spend to attend this institution goes. I wish to acquire a copy of the University’s budget and I also feel like our living and working conditions are deplorable.
I love my HBCU but sometimes I wonder what it would take for us to grow as a community. I am confident that one day we can change the culture or lack thereof. I feel as though we need the students to speak on our iniquities as a university in order to achieve complete trust in our officials. I feel as though our policies should be beneficial to our campus as a collective. I am willing to compromise our social gatherings like Spring Fest and other parties for more studying opportunities and self-help workshops. It’s sad that only parties attract the masses at SU. I spoke on compromising Spring Fest. I feel as though the money that we spent to get Future last year could’ve helped to rebuild a dormitory. Maybe even plumbing throughout a building.
Jaguars, we have a long way to go but if we can just come together and bring our grievances to the attention of our officials, Southern University’s campus culture will change. No longer will the yard be a popularity contest, or a social gathering but a United forefront where we can be proud to say, “I love my HBCU.”