This past Student Council presidential election was the most contested and questioned in recent memory. It was an experience that no one either in the student body or the University administration wishes to face again. Apparently to ensure that nobody does, University Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia M. Lampkin commissioned an audit analyzing the factors which affected this year's election and also making recommendations to avoid such a fiasco from occurring again.
Although the Council may appreciate this move, the audit should not have been commissioned. The Council should be allowed to handle its own affairs without interference from the administration. Faculty must abstain from involving themselves too heavily in the operations of student government.
Lampkin's motives for commissioning the audit are noble and logical. This past election was not only an emotional roller coaster, but it also brought up many issues concerning the values and culture of the University's student body and its governmental representatives. Illegal campaigning methods, possible voter fraud, race-based violence resulting in a FBI investigation -- this year's election reads more like a Hollywood screenplay than a typical smooth-running annual process. These actions not only make the student body doubt itself, its government and its own set of values, but such incidents are extremely bad publicity. The University is a business, in that it sells education. The negative press associated with this election rings a foul chord with many prospective students, and the University finds itself needing to convince these potential applicants and their families that the questionable and possibly illegal actions taken by certain individuals in no way represent the University.
The despicable events revolving around the election require further investigation, and the University should be commended in its proactive approach to resolving the situation in which Council now finds itself.
Unfortunately, in the long run, this audit is more destructive than anything else. As students at the University, we are being given the chance to practice many skills we will have to use in the future. Luckily, because we are at the University and only practicing these skills, we have professors and administrators who give advice and look out for us to ensure we succeed to the best of our abilities.
The failure of Student Council to regulate its own electoral processes points to problems inherent in the system Council has devised. Change is absolutely necessary, and it should be change instituted by Council itself. If the members of Council are not given the chance to work out their own problems, they miss out on the opportunity to learn from such proceedings. Even though Council's overall jurisdiction and power compared to the rest of the University, or even the rest of the world, is relatively small, its constituents will be the leaders of organizations which will greatly affect the lives of many people. Problems like the ones Council is now facing do occur in real life. The leaders in Council need the experience from mending these issues to have a framework for dealing with such problems in their futures.
The chaos resulting from this year's election is disturbing, embarrassing and a cause for great concern. But it does not, however, threaten the existence, jurisdiction or ability of Council to exercise its will or to run itself. Because Council is far from its death throes, the University was far too hasty in taking the initiative to fix this student organization's problems. Student Council must be allowed to deal with their own problems in their own way.
The University and its administration should be involved in helping Council work out its problems. The administration should offer Student Council advice and suggestions, and engage in actions such as this audit only when solicited. The faculty members working with Council offer years of experience and different viewpoints and should continue to be a valuable resource for the leaders that make up Council. The University, however, must have faith in the abilities of its students and their organizations and must in the future refrain from once again striking out preemptively unless the situation is so critical that the students cannot resolve it themselves.
(Alex Rosemblat's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at arosemblat@cavalierdaily.com.)
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