As a senior at Arkansas State, a college where I have always felt belonging and kindness from any face I meet, I was very disheartened to see the comment, “SGA is not for students.” While I respect all rights to voice criticism, I believe that your portrayal of some of our most active student leaders was not only fair to the individuals but also a disservice to the hard work and dedication they put into their roles, which I note the student body has voted into them. Student government is not just a platform for personal ambition or political maneuvering, as you suggested; it is a critical space where we, as a senate, grow as leaders while balancing the responsibility of representing a diverse student body. As you noted, if you have been to recent meetings, I am sure you have heard concerns about SR 22-23-01, a housing scholarship for five individuals. You talk about how SGA doesn’t want to be for the whole student body, but I encourage you to use critical thinking to think about how benefiting five students is beneficial. In 2023, we were told that there were 16,687 students in their undergraduate years at Arkansas State; if we were to hand-select five students based on criteria, that percentage would be 0.00029963444. However, by better utilizing this money, we are able to provide all students free of-cost events that include prioritizing and bettering the mental health of students, bridging the gap between diverse backgrounds through traditions without borders events, providing a pickle-ball court to allow those interested in remaining on campus, giving out small gifts, tickets, items, etc, and this is just only within this term. I encourage you to think about how investing in five individuals is better than investing in thousands, and even more so, I encourage you, if you feel strongly about getting involved, to do so. Student Government Association is not a mold of just one student; we have multiple opportunities for any student like yourself to join through an open seat and even public comments if you are not interested in joining. However, negatively responding when you have never taken the time to voice your concerns out loud is not something we, as a student body, should stand behind; as leaders, including yourselves, we should be a part of a campus that wants to promote positivity, not tear others and organizations down.
I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting and am happy to publicly answer any questions you have about any upcoming resolutions and answer how SGA is positively impacting students’ experience on campus.
As a senior at Arkansas State, a college where I have always felt belonging and kindness from any face I meet, I was very disheartened to see the comment, “SGA is not for students.” While I respect all rights to voice criticism, I believe that your portrayal of some of our most active student leaders was not only fair to the individuals but also a disservice to the hard work and dedication they put into their roles, which I note the student body has voted into them. Student government is not just a platform for personal ambition or political maneuvering, as you suggested; it is a critical space where we, as a senate, grow as leaders while balancing the responsibility of representing a diverse student body. As you noted, if you have been to recent meetings, I am sure you have heard concerns about SR 22-23-01, a housing scholarship for five individuals. You talk about how SGA doesn’t want to be for the whole student body, but I encourage you to use critical thinking to think about how benefiting five students is beneficial. In 2023, we were told that there were 16,687 students in their undergraduate years at Arkansas State; if we were to hand-select five students based on criteria, that percentage would be 0.00029963444. However, by better utilizing this money, we are able to provide all students free of-cost events that include prioritizing and bettering the mental health of students, bridging the gap between diverse backgrounds through traditions without borders events, providing a pickle-ball court to allow those interested in remaining on campus, giving out small gifts, tickets, items, etc, and this is just only within this term. I encourage you to think about how investing in five individuals is better than investing in thousands, and even more so, I encourage you, if you feel strongly about getting involved, to do so. Student Government Association is not a mold of just one student; we have multiple opportunities for any student like yourself to join through an open seat and even public comments if you are not interested in joining. However, negatively responding when you have never taken the time to voice your concerns out loud is not something we, as a student body, should stand behind; as leaders, including yourselves, we should be a part of a campus that wants to promote positivity, not tear others and organizations down.
I look forward to seeing you at our next meeting and am happy to publicly answer any questions you have about any upcoming resolutions and answer how SGA is positively impacting students’ experience on campus.