On Feb. 17, the Student Government Association (SGA) passed a series of eight amendments to the SGA constitution that include updating specific language, reflecting current bylaws and adding enumerated powers to the legislature.
The Emory student body will vote on these amendments as a part of a referendum attached to the online ballot used to elect SGA, College Council (CC) and Student Programming Council (SPC) candidates.
We at the Wheel are dismayed that such an important change to the guiding laws and principles of SGA has garnered such little publicity in the weeks leading up to the referendum. The onus is on SGA to inform the public on its initiatives and activities, especially one of such magnitude. While each individual amendment may not be of utmost importance, the codification and enumeration of a government’s powers should always be communicated to students.
In the future, we would like to see SGA utilize more tools for outreach for initiatives, including holding town hall meetings, posting on social media and sending out University-wide emails well in advance of a referendum to alert the student body to potential changes.
We applaud SGA for having some outreach regarding changes, including a Facebook post highlighting the amendments and several University-wide emails regarding changes to elections code and the University Senate appointments.
While SGA meetings are open to the public, the agenda for each session is not made public beforehand for students to be educated. We at the Wheel would like to see greater transparency in the actions of the SGA legislature in regards to passage of bills.
Furthermore, we urge the student body to read the proposed amendments critically and carefully before placing their votes.
Since the wording of the questions of each “therefore” clause is not known ahead of time, students should take the time to educate themselves on the proposed changes and their effects.
While we do not necessarily disagree with the proposed amendments, we at the Wheel feel that the referendum should not pass until SGA has sufficiently educated the student body on the proposed changes to the constitution and the effects of those changes.
We at the Wheel encourage students to follow their conscience and vote accordingly, if they feel educated on the amendments and the process. However, if students do not understand the amendments, we encourage them to vote no on the amendments. In the future, SGA should follow through on promises of better communication to change the amendment process as a means to better reflect transparency and foster a healthy environment for discussions.
The above staff editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel‘s editorial board.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
