Student Government Association’s Election Oversight Committee proposed a resolution to permanently allow only members in at least their sophomore years onto the committee, going against last year’s temporary suspension of the rule to allow freshmen.
This decision comes after a review in SGA, and the assembly will vote today on whether to make the rule a permanent change.
“Last year the EOC got into some trouble when they didn’t really look at the constitution very closely when forming the committee,” SGA President Mike Keller said.
“They added freshmen when the constitution specifically said that they can’t be.”
Sophomore James Schubert, who served as chairman on last year’s EOC as a freshman, said he thinks this was the wrong decision to make.
“I think they are going to struggle to get participation now,” Schubert said. “Freshmen tend to be the least busy, and they have the best opportunity to get involved.”
Keller said the process would benefit from members of the EOC having a year of experience before being on the committee because collegiate elections are different from high school.
“I think it’s definitely a good permanent change,” Keller said. “It is for the best for the committee to have older students taking on a serious role.”
Schubert was planning on being a part of the committee this year but said his plans have changed.
“I will be withdrawing my name because of that decision,” Schubert said.
PuLSE Office Director Caroline Huck-Watson assists the EOC in the decision process and said she believes that this resolution is good for the school year.
“Based on what our participation looks like I can say that this year, having older students is fine,” Huck-Watson said. “But I can see another one-year suspension just in case we need to add more students.”
She also said she doesn’t believe this resolution to be a result of poor performance from previous years.
“I can see why SGA thought this resolution would be a good thing by having experienced students,” Huck-Watson said, “but I personally could see EOC being a good way for freshmen to get involved.”
