I am writing this letter to the editor to address a previous opinion piece written by our current student body president, Evan de Joya. I would like to take a moment to applaud Mr. de Joya for his willingness to stand up for our university’s governing body and share his experience working alongside the organization. As de Joya previously stated, Student Government exists “to advocate for and represent the undergraduate student body” as a whole.
However, portraying some students’ view of Student Government as nothing more than “an event-planning service,” is, at the least, grossly over exaggerated and not warranted with only two days left in this election.
What has been underappreciated throughout the entire election cycle is how this clash of student leaders actually brings to light the importance of our Student Government. By participating in dialog and bringing unprecedented energy to this election, we have seen students from all corners of our university realize that they have a voice that truly matters; that is the representation that we need. When this happens, we bring about the necessary change, or progress, students will feel long after this race has been called.
Although I have not been a member of Student Government myself, the roles that those passionate about The U take on are incredibly important to our institution. Moreover, the constituents they represent and the issues that matter to them should be equally important to Student Government. When we can come to accept this reality, even during a contentious election, we all win.
-Kyle W. Kingma
Senior finance and economics major