Dedicated campaigning by candidates achieved two things that the WSA often speaks about but rarely achieves: visibility on campus and student participation. 1,232 students voted in this year’s presidential election, up from last year’s 1,080 voters. While this is still less than half of the student body, one must consider that few departing seniors participate at all—not the best turnout, but not the worst either.
A larger issue overshadows voter participation gains, however. The election was the most talked-about WSA activity since the group’s much-maligned all-campus “pimpology” e-mail. In between classes and at parties, students could be overheard talking about which candidates were more qualified. Impassioned Wespeaks were written, Facebook groups were created, and candidates went door-to-door to drum up votes.
The election seemed to grab the attention of the student body in a way that few of the WSA’s initiatives ever do. While some of the enthusiasm may have originated from personal issues among some of the candidates, the visibility of the election seems to present an interesting opportunity for both students and representatives.
If candidates put as much energy into the WSA’s initiatives as they did on the election campaigns, more students will be aware of what the WSA has done and is trying to do, and the WSA will achieve more of its goals.
As the year comes to a close, it seems safe to conclude that the campus dialogue in 2005-2006 has continually turned toward national and global issues. Last year’s activism calling for major on-campus changes has quieted, although few of the issues students protested have changed.
The combination of activism turned elsewhere and student attention to the WSA piqued offers a chance. For better or for worse, the WSA is in a unique position to represent the needs of the student body more than ever before. You’ve got our attention, WSA. Don’t waste it.
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