The new SGA executive board inherited some problems from the previous executors, and the short time frame for new elections to fill the Senate has forced them to resort to appointments. These appointments are not in a bad thing in themselves – they provide a solution at a time when students are too busy to properly consider or conduct elections – but these appointments must be short-term if the voice of the Loyola student body is to be given the respect it deserves. Thus we at the Maroon support the SGA’s decisions to appoint students to vacancies in the Senate, so long as these positions are filled by election in the fall along with the election of Freshman senators.
Students roundly rejected the sections of the SGA constitution that would have allowed for increased centralization of power within SGA. This was a triumph for student voices and student engagement – it showed that students can pay attention and decide for themselves what course SGA should take. In this case, students opted to keep the republican nature of the SGA as expansive as possible by having a multitude of senators elected by students rather than a smaller body of senators and a number of executive appointments.
However, following the defeat of the new sections of the Constitution, additional elections were required, and not enough people ran to fill these seats. Given how late it is in the semester and how busy people are, it is unreasonable both to expect people to be able to run effectively and make major decisions about being a part of SGA and for SGA to try to force a new election through. Appointing new senators will allow SGA to continue in its constitutionally required form without putting undo pressure on anyone.
These appointments are thus valuable to allowing SGA to serve students, but they are only valuable as a short-term solution. The defeated sections of the Constitution would have narrowed this large selection of senators and centralized power in the hands of the SGA executive board. The defeat of these sections indicates a mandate from the Loyola student body to keep an open senate. The executive board has been compelled to appointments by circumstances, and we support this decision. But if these appointments aren’t short-term, then SGA will betray the voice of the students.
By postponing elections until the fall along with the Freshman elections, SGA gives the whole student body more time to consider joining SGA and running for office. The appointments will allow SGA to marshal interested students to be a part of SGA in such a way that SGA will be able to function as its constitution requires. But SGA must make sure these appointments are only temporary, and students must use this time to decide to get involved in SGA, either as candidates for the senate or as voters looking for excellent candidates.
