The incoming Undergraduate Students Association Council will undergo the most dramatic shift in power it has seen in many years.
This gives the incoming council an opportunity to prove its resiliency to overcome divisive slate politics in the upcoming school year. The recent student government elections turned a 6-4 Students First! majority into a 7-3 Bruins United majority on the council, the slate’s first one since 2007-2008.
This board is concerned that the incoming council will cleave on petty slate squabbles rather than unify to address student interests. At Tuesday’s council meeting where the council changed hands from Students First! to Bruins United control, outgoing President Jasmine Hill expressed doubts in incoming President Emily Resnick’s preparation for the job, saying she is disconnected from the council and that her greatest challenge would be getting the campus to take her seriously.
Hill has certainly exceeded this board’s expectations in her capacity as USAC president, particularly in unifying the council’s vision both at meetings and in USAC programs. But now her responsibility, as with every other outgoing members’, lies in preparing her successor for her upcoming job. After a year of holding the position, Hill has the experience to help ensure that Resnick does not begin the new school year disconnected from either the other councilmembers or the campus community.
Though Resnick should express an eagerness to learn the functionality of USAC from Hill, she will be dealing with a different set of issues in the transition time from election season to leading the council. The biggest difference for Resnick is going to be in moderating a council with a majority from a slate that has not been in power for the last four years.
Though Resnick has said she will focus on council unity, this ideology needs to be in place throughout the year for all councilmembers, even if it means sacrificing slate-specific platforms for the sake of council-wide success.
While Bruins United councilmembers should ensure that their Students First! counterparts are not excluded from decision making, it is the duty of Students First! councilmembers to make sure that they do not alienate themselves in an environment that may seem politically unfavorable.
Now that elections are over, slate politics should be too. Despite the many weeks spent preparing along party lines, and the emotional nature of campaigning, it is now time for councilmembers to set aside their fundamentally disparate slates and assume the roles they have been appointed.
Student government, at its core, exists for the purpose of representing student interests to the administration and community, while also aiding student groups and putting on events for the campus ““ a purpose that goes beyond the scope of any one slate or political party.