Editorial: Why students should pay attention to SGA

Student Government Association elections have just started, and this year will be the second year in a row that SGA has had a president and vice president acclimate to the role due to no other students filing for candidacy.

On the face of it, student involvement in SGA has seemed to take a dive. But why should students even care about student government in the first place? What is the purpose of having it around?

SGA is a way for the student body to represent itself to the administration. The SGA president, by virtue of their position, is a full voting member of the Board of Trustees. That position is a way for students to have their voices heard by the higher ups at OCU that we hardly interact with. If we want to send a message to the board, we send it through the SGA president.

The legislation that SGA passes also sends a message to the administration. Two years ago, during the Trousdale administration, SGA crafted a resolution asking the university for the suspension of Greek houses Alpha Phi and Kappa Sigma. This resolution, along other outside pressures, forced the university to respond to the situation and the houses decided to suspend themselves for a semester.

SGA is also in charge of funding for student groups on campus. Anyone in charge of an official club on campus will tell you that they had to go before the Student Senate to request a grant for things that their club needs. It may be hard to see it sometimes, but SGA affects Student Life all across campus.

However, the relationship between SGA and students has to go both ways. One of the goals of the new Powell and Wyatt administration is to improve relations between the student senators and the constituents in their districts. If SGA would like more student involvement, they have to show that they care about our opinion. 

Students should care about SGA because SGA can and has effected real change on this campus. If students want to have their voices heard and speak out against a problem facing our campus, SGA is the best vehicle to make lasting change on campus.