By the time the dust settles tomorrow, Maryland should count itself lucky to have experienced some of the most well-run and competitive political battles of this election cycle. Unfortunately, the lengths to which this university has gone to deny itself a chance to participate in such a historical showdown have been amazing – voter registration started late, on-campus events were few, and intelligent, inter-party discourse was nonexistent.
But the problem goes far deeper than politics. Consistently throughout the school year, organizations that students count on to amplify their voice on crucial topics such as higher education funding, Route 1 redevelopment, administrative stances on riot policy and crime in College Park, have stayed mute.
A fundamental leadership vacuum is plaguing the campus. Despite the supposed rising quality of Maryland’s student body, visionary students who are unafraid of voicing dissent and energizing their peers are nowhere to be found.
The Diamondback’s role is not to dictate student opinion to university administration and beyond. As obvious as it sounds, the only thing we dictate is The Diamondback’s opinion. Editorial press exists to nudge governing bodies they believe are off-track. Yet this year, our editorial page has consistently found itself to be the lone dissenting voice in any actions taken by the university, the city and the state.
It may have been too much to ask for voter registration efforts to have begun last year, when students were actually on the campus. It might have been presumptuous for us to assume student leaders would take an interest in the proposed destruction of the legal action of probation before judgment. And perhaps we should have realized crime in College Park would resolve itself without student assistance.
Or maybe, the university is experiencing one of its most embarrassingly timid and uninspiring years of student leadership – ever. Former SGA presidents have protested injustices by parking a Ford Pinto outside the Governor’s Mansion and performing hunger strikes. Now, we’re lucky to see even an opinion column submission to our pages.
The student voice has disappeared. We are begging someone to step up and assume the burden of fighting for the student body. Otherwise the trend of officials who are increasingly unafraid of enacting convenient, anti-student policies will continue, because nobody will be there speak up.
