Student Association must engage the student body beyond asking for our votes
Annabelle Gordon | Asst. Photo Editor
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On Monday, a column was published in The Daily Orange titled, “It’s on Student Association to remedy low voter turnout.” While the headline is spot-on, I think the rest of the column misses the mark. Now, I preface this by saying SA should be open to any and all ideas to raise voter turnout. However, our low voter turnout is a symptom of a much larger issue.
The author of the column is completely correct when he says that “(Student Association) cannot possibly advocate for (student) interests without the voice of the student body.” However, student engagement by SA should not solely be focused around election season. Instead, SA needs to put a greater emphasis on the way we interact with students in the day-to-day.
It’s on Student Association to remedy low voter turnout
Will Fudge | Staff Photographer
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Syracuse University’s Student Association closed its 2021-22 election polls on Thursday with 10.2% of the vote to elect David Bruen, Darnelle Stintfort and Nyah Jones as president, vice president and comptroller, respectively, in an uncontested election. We call SA a government, one which advocates for student interests above all else. However, it cannot possibly advocate for those interests without the voice of the student body.
There will be some who argue that this turnout was directly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, yet I believe that it is a symptom of poor public relations and student apathy, which cannot be solved without direct policy changes.