For the first time this year, I missed a Student Senate meeting this past Wednesday night.
Now that’s not extremely significant, seeing as I’m not an elected member of the senate (although I did get invited to run with one of the tickets a few years back) and because I long ago gave up my gig as the beat reporter assigned to covering those student leaders.
But based on yesterday’s front-page story, this week’s meeting was certainly one worth attending.
More than 50 students showed up to the weekly meeting, with many hoping to convince senate to weigh in on the statewide efforts to repeal the controversial Senate Bill 5. Other students, primarily from the College Republicans, attended to support the decision of Senate President Kyle Triplett to not put a proposed resolution condemning the bill’s wording on the senate agenda.
In this case, I have to side with Triplett.
Campus opposition to SB 5 has been overwhelming since the bill was initially proposed. It makes sense: Athens is a Democratic stronghold amid the otherwise GOP territory that is Southeast Ohio.
Furthermore, college students, faculty and public employees — who make up a huge percentage of the local population — are much more likely to be enraged by the bill, which limits the ability of unionized public workers to collectively bargain.
From protests to signature sheets, OU students and local officials have made their outrage clear. And it’s been great.
There’s nothing better than seeing students coming out and mobilizing behind a cause. In fact, as the Rev. Jesse Jackson suggested earlier this week, if students were more willing to mobilize, we would be quite a force to be reckoned with — both at the local and national levels.
But with that said, energy being exerted to pressure senate leaders into taking one side or the other on this clearly partisan topic is misguided.
The attempted voter repeal of SB 5 clearly is important to students, especially to those who are politically minded, but there are enough pressing on-campus matters that senate shouldn’t be spending its time taking a formal position.
Student Senate is a diverse, complicated body comprising students from different walks of life, different educational backgrounds and different sides of the aisle.
If the body as a whole were to pass a resolution on one side or the other, it would clearly, and needlessly, be speaking for some members who in fact disagree with that stance.
Furthermore, the senate is a representative body meant in part to speak for our 20,000-plus students at OU. Any partisan political statement by this body risks alienating and misrepresenting students from both political parties.
Nothing could be more encouraging than dozens of students showing up to the usually dull “Student Speakout” segment of this week’s senate meeting. I just hope students organize this type of turnout when senate discusses campus safety, university programing and the budget.
But in the meantime, I hope President Triplett stands by his original decision.
This senate has the potential to be the most productive in my four years at OU. Let’s not muddy things with partisan politics.
