Editorial: Surrendering your voice
The necessity of broader student involvement in SGA

April 18, 2007

La Salle would be a vastly different campus without the Students’ Government Association (SGA). University policies, such as Academic Integrity, would be passed without student input; safety and security issues decided without the students’ voice; funding given to student organizations without the opinion of the students.

“We represent every full-time undergraduate. Whether you’re Greek, an athlete or in the band, we represent you,” said out-going SGA president and senior Luke Bollerman, Political Science and Economics major.

It seems that many Lasallians do not realize how vital SGA is to University life, which is apparent not only in the almost 50 percent voter turnout for this year’s Executive Board elections, according to Bollerman, but also in the fact that the four E-Board positions had no race for the third year in a row, even the presidency. The only position to run with multiple contenders was the Vice President of Public Affairs. SGA is a governance organization, despite the confusion on campus that leads students to think that SGA should plan programming, a responsibility of both the Resident Student Association (RSA), Interfraternity-Sorority Council (IFSC) and other student organizations.

“The only reason we do some programming is to get our representatives out in the public. If we didn’t do any, we wouldn’t be visible at all. It’s very difficult because you don’t see the behind the scenes,” Bollerman said.

SGA is the representative body of all full-time undergraduate students at La Salle. The organization appoints members to all of the major University committees, such as the Funding Board, Student Affairs, University Council, Safety and Security and the Curriculum Committee. Although students may not recognize this now, the administrators at La Salle do.

“I think it [SGA] inputs to the University the students’ active voice, how our University functions from the students’ perspectives,” Pete Lafferty, Community Coordinator for Leadership Development said.

Dr. Joseph Cicala, Dean of Students and SGA advisor, acknowledged the importance of the organization.

“SGA’s direct access to and connection with, through the advising relationship, the senior student affairs officer is an important one for SGA’s ability to represent students’ needs and views to the administration and vice versa, and one that has been eroded at many institutions around the nation over the years,” Cicala said. “SGA’s role as the body that appoints students (i.e. SGA Senators) to nearly all of the University’s governance committees—all the way up to University Council—on which students’ votes carry equal weight with those of faculty members and administrators also is an important one.”

It is apparent how important SGA actually is. So why have the last three candidates for president, the seemingly most powerful position a student can have at La Salle, run unopposed?

“It’s a lot of work. It takes away from academics and there’s an inability to have a job,” Bollerman said.

Yet many students don’t think twice about putting a lot of hours into other organizations, such as Greek life or athletics. We at La Salle have the opportunity to be a part of an organization that plays a key role in expressing the students’ views in important University issues, something that Cicala noted to be disappearing from higher education over the past few years. For example, SGA, which appoints members to the Academic Affairs Committee, represented the student body in its vote on a new Academic Integrity Policy, virtually deciding for us, with our best interest in mind, what plagiarism is and what the punishment should be. SGA also directly works with Cicala on matters important to the students, such as guest sign-in policies at the dormitories.

“The students should care. They’re going to care when something happens,” Bollerman said.

We at the Collegian do care about the lack of student support for SGA. With such a vital organization on campus giving the students a voice in administrative decisions, like class rosters, there should be more students vying for positions on E-Board, or, at the very least, more students paying attention to the elections. We support the current members of SGA, and we also support anyone who makes the important decision to run for a position; according to the SGA Constitution, any “full-time undergraduate students in the Day Division may be elected to the Senate.” Once one term is served, the student is eligible to run for President or the Executive VP of Student Affairs position. Further, there are three E-Board positions that do not have pre-requisites. We encourage the student body at La Salle to think about what life at this university means to them; to think about how important it is to step up and take a stance on matters that affect each one of us, from the classrooms to the residence halls, during our time here, and to join SGA’s efforts in having our opinions heard by the administration.

“The students need to ask [the SGA Senators] the tough questions, like where is my tuition money going? The University gives you that option through SGA,” Bollerman said.

Indeed, the La Salle community needs to step up and take an active role in the governance of the student body—be it through SGA or other student leadership positions. Make your voice be heard, and the voices of those around you. The university is listening; speak through SGA.