Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for our twice-weekly newsletter!

Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

Staff Editorial: An improved voice for orgs

Though the Student Association Senate is tasked with representing the interests of students, for years the relationship was plagued by inefficiency and bureaucracy. But with the passage of the Student Organization Outreach Bill Tuesday night, the SA demonstrated a promising sense of responsibility for senators. But progress from this bill will only occur if senators remember that they are liaisons, not lobbyists, for student organizations, and if there is an appeals process for organizations to change their assigned senator if that senator neglects his or her role as a voice for the campus group.

The bill, which mandates that senators regularly communicate with student organizations to discuss campus issues and solve problems, gives organizations a personal contact point and a more salient voice within the senate.

We find this a promising move on the part of the SA, as it demonstrates a self-awareness and willingness to rectify what had previously plagued the relationship between the senate and student organizations, and we hope that student organizations will be better represented by the individual senators assigned to them.

But the senators need to remember that they will act as liaisons, and not lobbyists, for their respective organizations. While they may learn a great deal about the student organizations to which they are assigned, and may want to fully represent that organization’s interests, they should not allow their personal ties to the organizations to overshadow their greater role in the senate. We would not want the overall effectiveness of the bill and the efficacy of the SA as a whole to be slowed by senators singularly lobbying for more funds for an org.

Similarly, it is not unlikely that some senators may want to pursue their own personal agendas at the expense of the student organizations they will represent. The SA needs to create a way for student organizations to appeal to the senate if their assigned senator is not fully representing the interests of the organization. The task of reaching out to an organization and advocating on its behalf falls on the senator, and if the senator is neglecting his or her role in this regard, the student organization should be able to appeal for new representation. This will hopefully hold individual senators responsible, while giving student organizations an even stronger voice in the process.

The inclusion of the Student Organization Outreach Bill heralds an important new stage in SA-student body relations. We just hope the Student Association senators find a workable balance between serving the individual organizations and serving their roles as members of the student government.

Readers can visit the Forum to comment on this editorial.

More to Discover
Donate to The GW Hatchet