The 2016 presidential election is in full swing and the focus of college students should be to make sure we are registered to vote and exercising that right by participating in our respective primaries. Voting is an integral part of our country’s democratic framework, and being able to take part in that is critically important to being active citizens, men and women for others.
With this in mind, let’s switch our view to the Fordham Rose Hill campus. In the next few days, the United Student Government (USG) will be holding its 2016 elections for executive board and senate positions.
USG is the only student government organization whose officers are elected by all members of the Fordham undergraduate community. Its mission statement, as posted on its website, emphasizes its commitment to “advocating for our peers and improving the student experience” by communicating with fellow students and sending concerns to the administration. For all intent and purposes, USG is our connection to the administration and these elections are our way to make a difference on campus as a student body.
In recent years, USG has not been as vocal and in the forefront of campus politics. Last year the majority of positions went uncontested, resulting in a less than exciting election process. This year, though, five out of the 10 positions are contested and most of the senate is contested, a huge increase from last year.
Is this due to the highly charged political climate in the U.S. elections? Most likely.
As this year’s presidential election is the first major election a majority of the student body will be voting in, it makes sense. The issues talked about and the controversy with candidates are constant topics of conversation in media and in the classroom. With this positive atmosphere toward politics for college students, it makes sense that this is the most contested USG election we have had in a while.
Fordham’s Rose Hill campus has been historically an apathetic student body when it comes to student government. Whether due to lack of understanding of what USG represents and can get done or just a lack of care, it is hard to tell.
Since this year’s candidates are being more verbal about their campaigns and hopes, especially through social media, it is important to be correctly informed about what each candidate is representing.
It seems that an issue arises on Fordham’s campus on a near weekly basis that incites a large student reaction and ultimately a push for change. Whether it be mental health issues, bias incidents and dialogues on diversity or sexual assault, students have asked administrators to take a deep look at a policy or practice on campus.
But with hardly any push by students to use their USG representatives to formally converse with the administration on these issues, some have forgotten about or have not been examined as methodically as they should be.
Since USG’s mission is to serve its undergraduate peers, we should all encourage our representatives to take up our causes. It starts with voting and continues throughout their terms by providing them with goals to consider and work towards.
