To get ready for school every morning I shower, brush my teeth, put on clothes and I am out the door listening to Pandora as I head to class. Usually I leave 15 minutes early so I’m not late. But as election week nears I know that my usual leave time will have to be earlier.
With every five steps that I take there will be a person asking if I have voted today and if I haven’t they are trying to convince me about who I should vote for.
Being me, I stop and listen because I am fascinated to know what kind of slogan a person has thought of to get people to vote for them. I also love all the items that you receive during this week; there is something about getting items for free that makes them seem so much better.
Election week for student government positions at Grambling State University are exciting but I feel like it doesn’t give a person a chance to show their sincerity and true colors.
A lot of students don’t even vote because the process to do so is difficult and extremely time consuming. The students who do vote either elect who they know or elect the most familiar name on the ballet.
Most people who run for a position in SGA are usually familiar faces around campus. Being in some kind of organization or sport, and they usually know a lot of people, even their campaign team consisting of well known students. Everyone’s fighting for the same goal, saying that they beat their competition in a contest that was unfair before the election process even started.
People constantly complain about GSU, and how they wish it could get back to how it was when their parents or relatives attended the school. But what action is being put forth by “the voice of the students” to make this a reality?
Google says that the definition of the student government association on a college campus is its representation of the student voice in the academic, cultural, and social affairs of the college; it depends heavily on energetic and interested representatives elected annually from the student body.
There is a lot of show and the position makes for great pictures on Instagram, but is election week about catchy slogans and free items or is it about listening to a candidates initiative behind making Grambling State University a better school?
Bria Patterson is a junior mass communication major from St Louis.