This year, the Student Government Association elections present a tale of two parties. The For Party is stocked with insiders – current SGA members experienced in university politics and SGA debates. The Go Party, meanwhile, is a compilation of outsiders – students with different, albeit impressive, credentials who hope to change the way the SGA is run. The race begins today and will determine the next SGA executive board, a group of students who play a key role in advocating for undergraduates on this campus.
After considering a week of debates and campaigning, this editorial board also met with both presidential candidates separately on Friday to determine the best woman for the job – Jamil Scott, of the For Party, or Samantha Zwerling, of the Go Party. Although both candidates are qualified for the position, we feel one stood out, both during the campaign and in her plan for the future.
Scott’s campaign has been typical of those found in past SGA elections: heavy on trinkets and sidewalk chalk, relatively light on substance. It’s a tactic that has certainly been successful in the past, but also reeks of a popularity contest. Zwerling, meanwhile, has utilized a style reminiscent of a grassroots political organization: Members of the Go Party spent the week engaging students directly by seeking feedback and collecting contact information from those interested in SGA involvement.
Zwerling’s methods are clearly inspired by her role as MaryPIRG president, where she led the student lobby on a number of important issues – which bodes well for her potential to overcome obstacles facing the SGA, such as low student involvement and perceived elitism.
That’s not to say Scott doesn’t have any experience in powerful positions: She is the current SGA Vice President of Academic Affairs, and this newspaper endorsed her candidacy for the position a year ago. Scott possesses a depth of knowledge on many issues and she’s had three years in the SGA to sharpen her diplomatic skills. But what’s best for smooth communication isn’t necessarily what’s best for students. The SGA president needs to be a strong advocate for undergraduates at the university, and Scott’s For Party platform is filled with improbable rhetoric – the exact sort of talk students frequently cite when complaining about the SGA.
Zwerling’s Go Party platform, on the other hand, comprehensively outlines specific solutions to seemingly every problem she has found on the campus. It’s also 46 pages longer than Scott’s plan.
Should Zwerling get elected, she could be held accountable for everything on the massive list – from planned initiatives to positions she hopes to create. The For Party plan simply touches upon 10 vague points that have the potential to change things.
Few will find much to disagree with in Scott’s platform, but that’s because there are so few tangible recommendations. Zwerling’s plan certainly leaves room for disagreement, but her party’s demonstrated commitment to seeking student input means there is also room for negotiation.
We don’t expect an insider candidate to have a reformist plan, but given Scott’s experience within the SGA, it’s surprising she doesn’t have more to say about what can be done better.
This editorial board believes Zwerling’s thoughtful plan is what tips the scales in her favor.
Her plans range from sweeping reform for the SGA structure to numerous university and statewide initiatives. Zwerling’s Go Party platform involves adding 30 new executive positions. Each position will focus on a specific area of expertise, such as dining services or sexual health. The benefit of such a plan is that it capitalizes on a person’s interests. Someone passionate about preventing sexual assault already possesses knowledge, and Zwerling’s plan will give them ownership – an important motivator for busy students.
The Go Party also hopes to improve communication with student groups. Zwerling’s plan would assign each legislator eight to nine groups to meet with once per semester and keep in contact with every few weeks. The idea is to keep all parties actively engaged with one another, ultimately reducing the friction between student groups and the organization that controls the purse strings.
On the topic of student group funding, we endorse Justin Dent, the For Party’s vice president of financial affairs candidate. Dent’s experience on the SGA finance committee will help him wade through a complicated student funding process, and his commitment to transparency separates him from Go Party’s Tali Alter.
None of the other four candidates – one from each party running for the positions of vice president of academic affairs and vice president of student affairs, respectively – really separated themselves in the eyes of the editorial board. We think Liz Pandya and Brandon Zarco are both independently capable, but Pandya’s affiliation with Zwerling’s Go Party earns her the nod. The same can be said of Ryan Heisinger and Liz Antman: Both have demonstrated a committment to the important issue of empowering Dean’s Student Advisory Councils across the campus, so we endorse Heisinger thanks to his Go Party affiliation.
In conclusion, we’re most impressed by Zwerling’s comprehensive plan to change the SGA. Students are overwhelmingly apathetic when it comes to SGA affairs, and Scott – herself a part of the current SGA administration – acknowledges the problems but lacks concrete solutions. If Zwerling is elected and accomplishes even a small portion of her agenda, she will still have a bevy of successful initiatives that could rally students around the SGA – something no president in recent memory has been able to accomplish.
