Thursday is the deadline for filing to run for the Student Union Executive Board, and so far only one slate has signed up. The deadline has been extended twice in hope of finding more candidates, and students need to get involved. Another slate will ensure an actual election, giving students another option than the ‘True II’ slate, which is mostly made up of this semester’s ineffective e-board.
Many students do not know anything about the Student Union, and most of those who do simply ignore it or realize that it has yet to become any sort of remotely powerful body that can accomplish change and adequately represent the student body. So much is wrong with the Union, but that is exactly why it needs talented leaders. The minor guest policy modifications proved that the Union can do something, but they were a rare exception to the usual waste of time and money.
The Union needs leaders dedicated to making more changes like this happen and intent on reforming the Union. Although the lack of competition so far shows how little interest students have in a nearly worthless organization, its current worthlessness can make for a strong platform. Following this semester’s fiasco that disbanded the committee working on rewriting the constitution, someone must take over next year and fix the Union from the ground up.
Running on a promise to finally reform the Union itself would mount a strong campaign and give a reformist slate a strong chance to win, especially considering the weak competition. The ‘True II’ slate headed by Carl Woog has experience, but should not control the Union again next year because its members have hardly accomplished anything this year. Breaking into student government at Boston University is remarkably easy, and any students with leadership skills certainly have a shot at winning if they file tomorrow.
Although the Student Union Election Commission rightly pushed the deadline back twice, they have done little to actually encourage candidates to run. Hopefully some candidates will hear about the election despite SUEC’s pathetic advertising.
The Student Union’s weakness does not come from a lack of strong leaders at BU. Current senators, Residence Hall Association members and leaders of school governments are obvious choices to run next year. However, any student interested in representing their fellow students and improving BU for them should run. Otherwise, the ‘True II’ slate will by default win an election it should not tomorrow.
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