Elections matter, and elections have consequences.
While this may seem intuitively true in Washington or Annapolis, it is even more true today in College Park. The student body stands at a crossroads. Our voices are dismissed, our resolve is questioned, and our seat at the table is endangered. The university and the state are in the midst of significant transition and face daunting challenges. The next Student Government Association president will bear the burden of representing us during this crucial time and has the historic opportunity of making a meaningful and lasting impact.
It is easy to ridicule the SGA and their electoral process. To the average student, the organization seems disconnected and irrelevant. For one week, these masquerading politicians will emerge from their ivory towers and spend thousands of dollars trying to convince students to put them in office. The more engaged and involved will realize the SGA controls how your student activities fee is allocated to hundreds of recognized student groups, and the university administration really does listen to them. The SGA is recognized and treated as the official representative body for students. It may be impossible to quantify how the SGA’s opinions factor into the decisions made by university administrators or elected officials, but it is likely that this lack of exactitude is what makes it so very valuable.
When the new university president begins his or her tenure at the helm of this institution, the new SGA and student body president will be crucial in fostering a collaborative relationship that will redefine what shared governance means at this university. Hopefully, the SGA will be able to emphasize the balance between student participation in the planning and decision making processes and the administration’s accountability. The SGA must stress that the new president see students as a core constituency group and that a foundation of trust and mutual respect must be established.
With the governor and every state senator and delegate up for re-election, the SGA must realize the next budget battle begins on Election Day. Yes, students have to register and show up to vote, but they must be mobilized to choose a side — particularly when the choice is so clear: Gov. Martin O’Malley has fought for affordable tuition and made higher education a priority, while former Gov. Bob Ehrlich’s record of support is embarrassingly non-existent. Every interest group around the state will be fighting for their funding, but by developing and leveraging relationships, students can be successful.
This election is important because the student body cannot squander the hope and potential in these new student leaders. The SGA cannot — through a cruel combination of incompetence and collusion — let student interests be ignored. The SGA cannot be mute and not raise more than a finger in protest when it feels students are being marginalized or wronged. The SGA cannot adopt the naive notion that progress will be won by silently working from the inside.
Plato stated: “Those who refuse to get involved in politics will be ruled by their inferiors.” Don’t let that happen this year. Pay attention. Vote for the leader and party that will best fight and advocate for you. This election matters.
Matt Verghese is a graduate student in public policy and a former member of the SGA. He can be reached at verghese at umdbk dot com.
