Loyola’s Student Government Association president should be knowledgeable of the community’s needs and create a platform that improves the deficiencies of the previous system and creates new alternatives.
The Maroon sees a lack of potential in the presidential candidates — marketing junior Sarah Cooper and music education/music industry studies senior Ashley Shabankareh. Based on interviews and analysis of their platforms, we believe the candidates lack convincing plans to improve the community and represent the student body. Therefore, The Maroon has decided not to endorse either candidate.
Cooper, a Louisiana State University transfer, was a student government senator there. Cooper, with only one year at Loyola, has taken on the challenge of being a presidential candidate for Loyola’s SGA. A year at Loyola has not exposed her to all of the school’s issues that need to be addressed. In her platform, she proposes more student representation but does not offer new ideas to improve students’ needs. Cooper’s proposals only rehash those of the previous administration.
Cooper supports a service learning requirement, but it’s debatable if this is what the Loyola community needs. The fact that SGA did not allocate funds to some student organizations concerns Cooper. She says she will distribute that money to these organizations next year. However, Cooper is making an empty promise as the president does not have control over allocations.
Contrary to Cooper, Shabankareh’s three years of SGA experience provides her with knowledge of the community’s needs. However, the fact that she is more experienced than her opponent does not necessarily mean that she carried out all of her duties as vice president. As vice president, Shabankareh was in charge of appropriations. According to the allocation committee’s minutes, this semester she left about $8,000 unbudgeted, which was appropriated by the senate solely for allocations, creating a reserve that couldn’t be used for any other purpose. As an SGA member, Shabankareh took an oath to uphold the interests of the students and by denying some organizations money we believe she neglected their needs.
In our opinion, Shabankareh’s platform does not target solutions for campus issues such as retention and improving campus life, but instead highlights sustainability and student scholarships. Shabankareh is not clear on where SGA is going to get the money to fund those scholarships. This plan does not seem feasible, especially during the current economic climate.
Like Cooper, Shabankareh’s lack of planning and knowledge of her own proposals is disappointing. During The Maroon’s interview, Shabankareh also pointed out service learning in her platform, though she was not clear on its purpose. She was not sure if she would add Jesuit ideal-related classes to the common curriculum or make them mandatory. We believe adding requirements is the last thing the common curriculum needs. Shabankareh is devoted to her double major, bands and student organizations. It is questionable if she will have the time to be an accessible president.
We believe that in this election, two poorly qualified candidates are running for SGA president, and the voters will have to choose one of them — the inexperienced candidate who lacks the ability to distinguish herself from the current administration or the experienced candidate who has reinforced the student body’s distrust of SGA.
Although The Maroon endorses neither candidate, we encourage students to become informed about the candidates and their platforms before they vote because the choices they make will greatly influence next year’s policies and progress.
