As I eat my box of Samoas for the day, 10th of the year, I begin to notice that my time at dear ol’ Grambling is almost up. A plethora of topics began to wander in my brain, so I just let my fingers guide the white keys attached to the Mac in The Gramblinite. As the topics flowed freely through my head, I began to reminisce on the day I lost faith in a class of students. That day was the day of the Student Government Association Nomination Convention held Wednesday.
I watched numerous students fill up Grambling Hall, all eagerly anticipating their positions being up for grabs. As some shocking nominations came about, people articulated to each other in near-whispers, debating who would win.
However, that was not the “highlight” of the evening. The highlight is actually a lowlight – lower than the dim lights that filled the room – only four nominations came from the entire junior class. I sat on the floor astonished. How could only four people want to represent their class in the SGA?
This is the same class that had no Sophomore Class candidates last Spring, as I was informed. It was also the same class that the elected freshmen officers did nothing and were also booted from office.
This made no sense to me. I am a former SGA member, and I care about my school. I guess the Class of 2011 does not care about their school or what happens to their class, as the SGA is responsible for that. The SGA is also responsible for being a voice for the students; but if you have no representatives in the SGA, how can they represent your voice?
Maybe it’s just me, but I always thought the SGA was a privilege to be a part of. I loved being able to vote on legislation and prepare projects that would benefit the students in the long run. I also loved being able to travel and meet other SGA officers at other schools. But that’s the past now.
As I anticipated the whirlwind of snide remarks and insults to be hurled during the week before Spring Break – which is why I’m glad I can’t be on a campaign these days – I am also worried about the future of student life on campus.
Lately, it seems that organizations, particularly those that have an intake process, cannot do anything without being disciplined. While I won’t get into specifics of what I know, I will say that I feel the university may be going overboard in its effort to curb hazing and/or illegal activities.
I do, however, understand why they are doing so, as no parent wants their child beaten to death, as is what nearly happened to a pledge of a group that is no longer on campus. Also, the legal precedents of hazing have not been fully discovered, as some people do want to sue the universities where these incidents occur.
Yet, I don’t necessarily see how ceasing these organizations to have some fun will hurt the students, university, or the parents. I also don’t see how stepping on the Yard – a tradition done since back in the day – is hindering student progress or harming students.
Maybe I see things differently, but I never thought that my educational process was hindered when anyone chanted their organizational songs, stepped or just hung out on the Yard. As a matter of fact, those traditions brought me out to the Yard more, as it was interesting to see the back and forth between organizations, as well as the love they showed each other afterward.
Then of course, it’s the never-dying rumor about TigerFest being canceled. While I don’t believe that rumor, I have heard reports from credible sources that there are plans to scale back the event.
This type of news sickens me because TigerFest is indeed the biggest event of the spring semester, especially with football season over. There is no need to scale back an event that nearly everyone enjoys, especially when the city could use the business since most entities are suffering from this recession.
Maybe it’s me, but I love TigerFest. I love seeing the many different artists that grace the stage at GSU, adding to our celebrity-filled list. I love seeing a lot of people on campus, coming to have fun and drop knowledge on the younger students.
Maybe it really is just me.