The Georgetown University Student Association Senate, for all of its flaws, has one thing going for it: its members are elected by the student body. Call it ineffective or irrelevant or self-important, but at least each Senator represents a constituency of students and is, in theory, held accountable by these students. That’s what makes a recently enacted modification to GUSA’s bylaws that allow a non-GUSA Senator to head a GUSA commission so troubling: it undermines the very foundation of GUSA’s credibility. Getting outside students involved in GUSA is a worthy goal, but GUSA should reverse the change so that they don’t put a non-elected student in a position of power and responsibility.
The change in question is part of an initiative to make GUSA more issue-oriented through a handful of specialized commissions. The commissions, five of which were approved by the Senate last night, signal a new willingness to address the issues that really matter to students: Georgetown’s anemic wireless network (the Student Commission for Technology Concerns), for example, or the quality of service at Leo’s (the Student Commission on Dining Concerns).
A bill due to be considered next week seeks to renew the authorization for the Student Commission on Unity (SCUnity), an organization founded by former GUSA Senator Brian Kesten (COL `10) to address issues of tolerance and diversity at Georgetown, as an official GUSA committee. Kesten, however, lost the race for his Senate seat earlier this fall, so the bill includes language which would allow him to remain head of SCUnity after GUSA renews its authorization.
Kesten deserves praise for his commitment to Georgetown and for the initiative and leadership he’s demonstrated through SCUnity. There’s no reason he can’t continue to play a role on SCUnity should it be renewed as part of GUSA. However, a GUSA Senator should head the committee. Just as the U.S. Senate would never choose a citizen to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the GUSA Senate shouldn’t appoint a non-GUSA Senator to a position of responsibility and power that should rightly be filled by an elected Senator.
Judging by the GUSA meeting last night, the bill seems to enjoy widespread support among GUSA Senators, most of whom don’t see any problem delegating their responsibilities to a non-elected student. Hopefully, next week they’ll realize that they can take advantage of the contributions of non-elected students without undermining their own authority and will vote against the bill in its current form. To act otherwise is to make a mockery of the idea of a representative government.
Correction October 23, 2008
A previous version of this article included vague language about the origins of SCUnity. The commission was originally founded as a GUSA organization, with a one year authorization. The bill currently under question seeks to renew that authorization for another year.
