Opinion: USUSA needs more diversity of opinions
The Utah State University Student Association is made up of numerous groups including the Executive Council headed by President Lucas Stevens, the Academic Senate headed by Executive Vice President Porter Casdorph, the Students Events Office and the Graduate Student Representation.
These students make up USU’s student government and are supposed to work hard to represent the student population, facilitate activities and make positive change in our school. Currently, candidates are campaigning for votes in order to remain in, or be voted into, office. Everyone at USU should cast their vote so their voice is heard, no matter who they vote for.
Student representation is important, and voting is crucial when it comes to democratic government — even school government. But how effective are our votes? And is USUSA actually doing what we want them to do?
Alesha Carter, a student with a major in music education has attended Utah State for almost two years, and she had never even heard of USUSA until I interviewed her.
“I think some aspects of USUSA are very effective,” Carter said. “I know many people enjoy some of the events they put together, such as True Aggie Night and the Howl. However, I only hear about events from my upperclassmen that live near me, not from people on the council.”
The events we’re all familiar with are highly advertised and talked up around campus. Even people who don’t go to USU know about the Howl. But everyone I’ve talked to say they don’t see much interaction from the council members.
Like Carter, I had no idea the student council existed until I wrote an article about Sophia Lesser Thorngren, the current Caine College of the Arts senator. Before then, I had no knowledge of the organization nor anything they had tried to accomplish in my first year of school.
On their website, their mission statement is clear, but as a student, I don’t feel like I am seeing the first-hand effect of their actions. USUSA is interacting with the student body as much as they could, but a larger problem lies with the diversity of opinions.
Last semester, I wrote an article about the vaccine requirements set by the school for the spring semester. I interviewed several members of USUSA, expecting to see a variety of opinions, but that was not the case.
Every single person I interviewed said, almost verbatim, the exact same thing. They regurgitated the school policy and information I had found online and I didn’t find any unique voice in any of them. They did provide different types of answers and solutions to the problems presented with the issue, but I was surprised that none of them were opposed to the vaccine requirements.
At least one had to be, right? I do think that the council members try to improve their offices and aspects of student life, but it can’t be very effective when there is no discussion and no question.
“If everyone was expressing school policy rather than their own opinions, it doesn’t really show how they’re going to change our school to make it a better place,” Carter said. “In my high school, student government was a popularity contest. It makes me question if this is also the case.”
I believe even if members of USUSA disagreed with the coronavirus vaccination requirements, they had to cooperate with school policy to help garner school-wide cooperation. I can understand that, and I don’t expect student government to be as divisive or opinionated as real-life government, but Carter, myself, and other students would appreciate more hands-on approaches to fixing student life as well as more engagement.
Of course, USUSA isn’t a horrific mess of corruption or ignorance, but it would benefit from a little open discussion and community outreach. If it is really meant to lend a hand and make a positive impact on the school, I believe USUSA needs to be more willing to change and let students know they’re there. They can be flexible, but there’s a lot of room to grow.
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Megan Cowdell is a second-year communications student. She loves going on bike rides, reading mystery novels and watching cheesy movies.
— A02334008@usu.edu