Policy aside, I am offended and saddened by the level our student government has stooped to. Whether or not you think the WSA is an important organization, it holds some symbolic significance as an opportunity for Wesleyan students to practice local democracy.
This is why the decision to ignore the popularly-endorsed constitution because the WSA leadership thinks it “is best for the student body” is so insidious (WSA Overrides Constitution, Argus, 12/8/09). Every politician believes that ze is acting in the people’s best interests and every politician that bends political institutions to fit their goals under this assumption is corrupt. While this charge might sound absurd talking about student government, it is the very absurdity that offends me. How is it that in such a low-stakes situation, where our representatives actually have the ability to stick to their principles, that they choose not to? And to go further and personally attack their critics! That is a new low.
As a former WSA representative, I know what goes on inside the hallowed halls of Usdan 108. I know how committee chairs, coordinators and presidents are handpicked by current presidents and chairs and how the democratic process inside and outside the assembly is twisted to affect the changes that the student body doesn’t know it needs.
It’s time the WSA took its insular politics less seriously. If the elections are held next week, as planned, it is an embarrassment to the student government and an embarrassment to all of us who elected them. It certainly won’t change much on campus and nothing past Washington Street, but it will validate every cynic who criticizes the irrelevance of the WSA.
Our student government should not be a group of amateur politicians. Don’t take potshots at people who disagree with you. Don’t make the commitment so intense or unpleasant that only the diehard politicos take part. And please, don’t abuse the constitution or any of our other democratic institutions. I look forward to voting in January.
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