By Victor Dixon, Editor-in-Chief
It’s time to vote for Student Government Association senators, and just days ago the student body GroupMe chat was lit up by people campaigning and endorsing the different candidates.
While it is great that we have so many people running that there aren’t even enough senate seats for all of them, and while it is great that people are engaging with the election and with the candidates, I would really like to see a similar energy put toward real government elections and issues.
Here at Newman, we don’t actually talk about difficult topics. Discussions surrounding systemic and social issues are mostly relegated to Canvas boards and small, infrequent club events. There is precious little public dialogue. But how can we expect any when people are even hesitant to breathe a public word about athletic and academic cuts?
I think there’s this implicit rule that political talk is unprofessional because it causes too much division in places where it need not be. But a university is a place where it does need to be.
Although this is a professional space, it is also an academic one, and discourse is vital to such spaces; it’s good for us. While it is true that many political conversations become hostile because they are too tethered to personal identity, we can’t learn to overcome that without practicing civil arguments.
It is, in theory, a core part of higher education, and yet no one seems interested in pursuing it. I often hear people say that they don’t plan on voting because they don’t like either candidate or that they don’t care for politics or that they feel like their vote just doesn’t matter.
If that’s the choice you’ve decided to make, then fine, but be cautious of coming to such conclusions without doing adequate research because I guarantee you that there are issues and legislation that you care about whether you realize it or not.
If you’re a college student, you are affected by student loan forgiveness. If you’re a parent, you and your children are affected by public education. If you’re an employee of any company or institution, you are affected by wage laws and workers’ rights.
Even if voting isn’t the avenue you choose to take to assert your needs as a citizen, do something to spread awareness about the things that are important to you. Protest. Write a blog. Hand out a pamphlet. Join a relevant nonprofit organization. Simply have a conversation.
Do something– because it’s not just you who is harmed if circumstances don’t favor the people. It’s everyone.
PHOTO: Dannicka McGrath, Photographer
