SGA to seek equal representation

The Student Government Association has come a long way, with the highest voter turnout ever in their spring presidential election. But they are still lacking in one area: Equal representation for students from all of VCU’s schools.

Last semester, there were 47 senators involved in SGA. Out of that 47, 32 were from the College of Humanities and Sciences. Seven were from the School of Engineering, two from the School of the Arts, three from the School of Business and only one student from the School of Education.

Eddie O’Leary, president of the SGA, says the reason there are so many students from Humanities and Sciences is because it is VCU’s largest school. Despite this, the SGA is hoping for students from all schools to come out and get involved.

“This coming year we are making changes in our publicity structure,” O’Leary said. “A major effort will be to focus more attention to unrepresented areas of our school. More attention will be focused on not only events for art and music students, but also issues that are relevant to them.

“We are also going to pay more attention to what school each senator actually belongs to. So this year, if you are an art student, you will know who the official art representative is.”

Timothy Reed, a staff adviser to the SGA, agreed.

“The College of Humanities and Sciences is the biggest school at VCU,” he said. “So based on numbers, they should have the biggest number of students in SGA. And students from the School of Engineering are so involved in campus life, so that’s why there are so many engineering students involved in SGA. The question I ask is why aren’t students from other schools involved?”

In addition to focusing on the unrepresented areas, the SGA is making many changes that they hope will get more students to participate.

“We are redoing our Web site and restructuring the entire way we publicize,” O’Leary said. “We are also going to focus on issues that affect schools like art, music and business. If we make changes for them, it will not only show them that we care but also encourage them to take part.”

Reed noted that the SGA is doing many things to get more attention from students.

“They are having more forums and more speak outs. They are going to try to do some more event based activities to try and get their name out and let people know what they’re doing,” he said. “They are also trying to update their Web site with more information and faster links.”

Many students said that time is the biggest reason they don’t participate in SGA.

Rachel Nicholson, a student in the School of the Arts, said, “My major involves a lot of time and work. I barely have time to eat, much less think about SGA. And I’m just not that into politics.”

Anna Lucas, a student in the School of Business, was involved in the SGA but had to stop because she didn’t have the time.

“School keeps me really busy, plus I also have a job and I am in a sorority,” she said. “I just didn’t have the time to do it.”

There are many ways for students to be involved in the SGA, even if they don’t have a lot of time. If there is something they want to change on campus, they can go speak to an SGA officer.

“One of the things that many students don’t realize is that the student Senate meets every Monday of the semester at 4 p.m.,” Reed said. “Anyone is welcome to come in and watch. If somebody wants to speak or present something, they can do that. Meetings are never closed unless they are dealing with a personnel issue and those are very rare.”

There are many other ways for students to become involved as well, such as going out for Senate this fall.

“There will be another Senate election in October,” O’Leary said. “This will allow 25 or more students to join. You can also go to the appointments committee and become an at large (nonvoting) member of the Senate.”