Election Oddities

During this past election week there were many things that seemed incredibly odd to me. First of all, how could one go the entire school year without interacting with anyone, and suddenly want support from people? I honestly feel that one of the most important aspects of being an elected official of any organization is to be a “people person”. When I say that, I mean all people. Both candidates for Student Government Association President expressed their concerns on breaking the barrier between students and SGA; however, this cannot be done if the President is in a clique or sticking to the “norm”. With all of the trials, budget cuts and the large incoming freshman class that Southern University is preparing to face, we need a President who is not afraid to step out of his or her comfort zone. I also do not understand how people can really go the entire year knowing that you aspire to be a member of SGA, but make no effort to get to know students until election time.
This brings me to my next point that people need to be more genuine. Being a person who has been longing to attend Southern University since I was a child, I have been keeping up with many of the events for a long time. It saddens me that candidates will continue to try to persuade people with a platform they know shouldn’t be promised. If quarter machines could not be implemented, or the knowledge of how fees are allotted did not come to pass in 2013, then what makes 2015 any different? Now I understand wanting to reinforce issues, but maybe they should not be focused on during your campaign, which ultimately determines whether or not you are elected. The main thing could be just to understand the chain of command, and that some things are simply not in your control as SGA President.
A question that stuck out to me during the debate was the one the candidates for Miss SU decided to play it safe on. We are all aware of the elephant in the room. The fight that happened in the Residential area on campus has been displayed on every official Twitter fight account and has gone viral. When asked about it, the candidates for Miss SU downplayed the situation and gave a “politically correct” answer, and I understand why. However, there is no time for playing it safe with the state of our black community. As a black woman at an HBCU, I do not like what happened, and how our school was portrayed. Being that HBCUs were founded for black people to excel, as Miss SU, how could this event make you so unbothered? Especially since you are trying to be the face of the university. With all the police brutality and horrible stereotypes for our men, it is not the time to play things safe and “not get involved”.
Lastly, I am disappointed with the unsportsmanlike attitudes of some candidates. There were already so many restrictions on the campaign teams, and people still found a way to be dirty and shady. We are collegiate scholars, and we are the only HBCU system. Therefore, we should be setting the bar for all HBCUs. How does it look when other people are seeing the childishness of our campaigning? News flash people, pointing out someone else’s flaws does not make you flawless in any way. Instead of focusing on putting someone else’s campaign down, the ultimate goal should have been getting people to fully understand your platform and what you want to bring to the university. Is it going to take the elections committee to limit the amount of Instagram posts that are made a day for people to realize you shouldn’t waste energy on other people’s campaigns? On top of that, there is so much money put into campaigns; what makes your platform so much better than the other persons’ that you feel their sign isn’t important? Sadly, it wasn’t event he candidates doing this, but the campaign teams. People should be wiser with who they pick to represent them, because things like that can really hurt you.
Lastly, I was disappointed with the lack of support for two of the referendums, which in my opinion were the most important. First and foremost, the majority of the complaints of our students (no scholarships, the need for campus beautification, the incredibly long bus wait) would be fixed with the 20 for 20 referendum. As SGA President at a school that is about to face budget cuts, how can you promise these incredible things if there are no funds? Also, it has been said in a recent newsletter from the Southern University System President that the SUBR campus is holding the system together with recruitment efforts. This being said, why shouldn’t the ambassador fee referendum be supported? With the recruitment efforts from this year, SUBR has accumulated 7,000 new applicants. Whatever is being done, I applaud them and hope that these efforts will be continued. These referendums are important because they will have long lasting effects on students at this university. I’m not knocking the other referendums by any means, but I just feel that ALL students deserve the chance to get scholarships, and we NEED more people interested in Southern University, for the sake of the system.