A good student senate can do a lot for a campus.
Wednesday marks the second and final day of Ohio University Student Senate elections.
Although, as we’ve written before, it’s disappointing that no clear outsiders are challenging for executive positions, that’s no excuse to abstain from voting altogether.
And it’s easy to do: You can vote online, and senate has promoted it on Twitter under the #OUElections hashtag.
Still, turnout is traditionally low. In each of the past two years there have been about 3,000 to 3,500 ballots cast, which is shockingly low considering OU is home to roughly 18,000 undergraduate students at its Athens campus, and freshman classes are getting increasingly larger.
Voting in senate elections means more than picking between which flyer on College Green looked better. Student Senate makes decisions that can directly affect students. From events like Pride Week and Take Back the Night to Convo Concerts and entertainers on campus, a good senate can do a lot for a campus.
Senate has faced a fair amount of criticism the past few years and perhaps rightfully so. Some senate leaders have been a distraction, and others ran for office for what only seemed like a resume boost.
We don’t want any of that from the next batch of student leaders in Walter Hall. The best way to do that is to elect senators who are capable and willing to better the university and always keep students’ interests in mind.
And it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Student Senate president also receives full tuition paid for the year, and the vice president and treasurer seats receive half.
It only takes a few minutes to complete the ballot. You can easily fill it out walking to class or during some down time at Front Room. So, log on and be active in campus politics.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Emma Ockerman, Managing Editor Rebekah Barnes and Digital Managing Editor Samuel Howard. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
