Our last paper featured grading of the executive board of Student Government Association (SGA).

To do this, we sat as an editorial board and thoroughly examined the SGA’s constitution along with any relevant documentation provided by each elected official.

In doing this, we noticed a pressing issue not only with elected officials, but the constitution itself.

The constitution, last revised in May 2017, is extremely vague in mentioning the duties and responsibilities of elected officials.

Without detailing responsibilities for each official, the constitution is open
to interpretation, making it difficult to hold elected officials accountable for the change we expect them to make.

We encourage that the constitution be revisited and revised with more specific details and responsibilities of each official.

While this year’s elected officials were active in the Greensboro community and have already been graded for the semester, we encourage future candidates to study their position and duties in depth.

Candidates need to know exactly what they are responsible for and how they can best represent their campus.

Understanding the position also aims to prevent candidates from making false promises during their campaign, which leads to disappointment amongst the candidate and student body.

Previous campaigns may have ran on a certain platform, but we tend to see

that platform and initial enthusiasm fade as the semester continues.

While elected officials are also students and have other responsibilities, they are held to a higher standard representing the entire university and student body, creating little room for excuses and lack of impact.

Simply having programs is not enough to make a positive impact on the campus and student body, which should be each elected official’s main goal and intention.

Programs and events should not
be just for fun, but aim to encourage students to network, build relationships, learn, create opportunities, and enhance their college experience overall.

We encourage future elected officials to remain vocal and visible throughout the entire year with the student body to understand the impact they’d like to see.

The responsibility does not fall simply on the constitution and elected officials. As students, we all have a responsibility to ensure that our voices are heard.

Elected officials are not only a representation of students, but they also serve as a liaison for students’ voices and opinions to be heard and understood by administrators.

Without students effectively and respectfully expressing their concerns to the very students they elected, how can we expect change?

Rather than thinking of elections and campaign season as a popularity contest, we encourage students to see this as an opportunity to seek change and create the experience they wish to have.

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