The Student Government Association has, at many times in our past, been a hugely influential and active force on campus and in the region. It has inspired changes that have affected students and changed the minds of the administration of this university. For instance, many students do not know that the Maryland Food Co-op was started in 1975 by the SGA, nor are they aware that Shuttle-UM was created in 1972 by members of the Black Student Union in response to violence on the campus. In 1991, over 2,000 students faculty and staff stormed Route 1 to successfully protest severe budget cuts from the state, and the African American studies department is a privilege that we enjoy due to the passionate and courageous activism of the students who have come before us.
Examples like these show the capability of students to enact real and lasting change, and the STARE Party seeks to follow this legacy of action from our past. As a history major, I know that we as a student body have the potential to repeat the successes from before. But to do so, we need to learn from both the failures and successes of those who came before us, we need to dream big and act boldly, and we need to be capable of imagining new ways of operating outside the current systems. We want an SGA that can make demands of the administration through the mobilization of students on the issues that they’re passionate about. This has happened before, and it can happen again.
Our ticket is full of driven people who want to accomplish big things. We want to do things that we can pass on as a legacy to the students who follow us — such as the creation of student-run co-operative housing, which would provide an affordable community-based living option for all students. Precedent for the feasibility and benefits of such a program can be found in the co-operative housing program founded in 1969 at Michigan State University. They own 14 houses and pay an average of 25 percent less than the MSU dorms.
But we aren’t only concerned with improving the quality of life for those who choose to live off-campus. We have seen the positive impact of open, public gathering spaces, such as McKeldin Mall, Washington Quad and La Plata beach. But there is a distinct lack of indoor spaces for students to come together. We want to make resources available for students to come to us with specific proposals that will improve the communal spaces in the dorms in which they live. These initiatives may include student-created murals, game tables or comfortable furniture.
We would also like to help locally owned and operated businesses on the Route 1 corridor to thrive. Local businesses create more jobs, keep more money in the community, have a greater tendency to buy local and create a stronger community around them. We want to reach out to these businesses and support them by making a consumer’s guide of local businesses and working to generally increase their patronage.
Most importantly, we plan on making the SGA an approachable organization that empowers students with knowledge of the past and present issues, and an avenue to see their bold ideas become reality.
Natalia Cuadra-Saez is the STARE party’s presidential candidate. More information on their party can be found at www dot stareum dot com.
