To whom it may concern:
Throughout our lives, we go about our daily routines; day
in, day out they rarely vary and, for the majority of us, this
is perfectly acceptable, and we do not think twice about it.
But every once and a while, we run across something that
is out of place; it might be something we find troublesome
or something that is wrong. Regardless, we change it and
continue with our routines. However, sometimes, we do
nothing. And by doing nothing, the problem grows larger
and larger. It begins to involve more people than just one
or two individuals; other people begin to notice it as well.
Finally, the problem gets to be so large, and so many can
no longer bear to deal with it, the problem is addressed
and resolved.
This is the current situation with the Monroe Park
Campus Student Government Association. It has reached
a point where it is no longer legitimate. The problem
we, as a part of this campus, are experiencing is a lack
of attention on the issue. As of now, the problem only
resonates within the souls of some students. And this is
unfortunate, because it only will become an issue to the
majority of students when it is too late, and the system is
so ineffective that it will cease to exist. Change needs to
be made from the top down.
Looking first into the judicial branch, one can see its
obvious agenda. For the past two years, a president has
been elected after a direct breach of election bylaws. And
these breaches were found to be OK by our justices. Our
leaders are cheating to become elected representatives of
the student body. Last year, a presidential candidate used
illegal materials to campaign. She was caught, put on trial
and was only required to give an apology. This year, both senate- and executive-branch candidates
harassed and intimidated voters into voting
for a particular person*. Numerous
reports of these fraudulent tactics were
reported. When the former justice went
on trial, he was found not guilty by a
unanimous verdict.
It is clearly evident the judicial branch
finds the SGA’s constitution a set of
guidelines rather than laws that students
must follow. The integrity of the court
has been lost.
However those in the judicial branch
are not the only ones. Individuals in the
executive branch, as stated above, have
been elected illegitimately the past two
years. The lame ducks have not passed
a single bill this term, or – at least – no
note of one can be found in their minutes.
Their ineptitude to take detailed minutes
leads me to think they have large parties
and do nothing, for there is hardly a
record of what goes on. While they’ve
made strides working for a greener
campus, this is the only work I can see
being done. Who knows, maybe there
is more than meets the eye. However,
the lack of transparency of those in the
executive branch only further hides them
behind a veil of smoke and mirrors.
The front they present tries to show an
SGA that is hard at work for the VCU
student when in reality, the “Oz” we
find behind the curtain is nothing more
than an illegitimately elected group of
do-nothings.
But our misbegotten leaders cannot
be blamed for it all. The Senate is as
ineffective as the executive branch it
fights against. If you sit in on a Senate
meeting as I did recently, you will find
a room full of students who throw
pointless questions around at senators
trying to bring forth legislature and
amendments. These students do not
follow Robert’s Rules of Order or even
have the courtesy to allow their fellow
senators to talk. Numerous times, the
vice president had to cease all talking to
regain order – an act that was humorous
to watch as he was forced to repeat
himself five minutes later when he finally
announced no more questions were to
be asked unless they were relevant. The
shear fact it took three weeks to decide
what to do about the illegitimate online
ballot this year can go to show not only
the lack of organization in the Senate but
also its lack of promptness on issues of
importance.
Overall, the SGA is considerably
hidden from students. It is opaque.
No one knows what is going on, and
most do not care, because they do not
understand what the SGA does for them.
Why should they care when they see
the cover of the paper reading “SGA
election results scandal”? What they see,
instead of a body of students working
toward the betterment of campus life,
are people who don’t care and use corrupt
tactics to become elected officials.
The SGA needs to make these primary
changes before it can change anything
constitutionally. The following will
better involve students: