Letter to the Editor
Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: Opinion
SGA, you are incredibly stingy with your money; especially when an organization that the board is not involved in or have connections to is in front of you. I have gone in front of SGA on a couple of occasions and was surprised at how negative some of the board members are towards those standing in front of them or towards what the individuals are asking for. People are scared to go in front of you for these reasons. SGA should not be an organization students do not want to approach, but rather a welcoming group that wants to assist in what ways they can in order to support the students. I have been lucky to have known a few of the members present on the board when I have gone and, therefore, received the funding my club/organization needed. I have seen others that have not been as fortunate.
You are an organization that is supposed to represent the entire student body, but it shocks me to see a board largely comprised of individuals from the Greek community, mainly consisting of Alpha Delta Pi's and Theta Chi's. How is this representative of the entire student body? It would be different if the board consisted of these individuals and they were still diplomatic in their decisions and understanding of all students; however, this is not the case.
You are only talking about issues that you are concerned about. Saying that "students don't approach us" is not a valid response considering you scare/intimidate a good amount of people. Go out and ask students what their concerns are. You and your brothers/sisters are not the only ones that you should be representing. I am in no way saying that it is bad/wrong that you are involved in the Greek community on campus; I just think you need to ask/listen to the concerns of others on this campus as well.
Another concern of mine is that you are not following your own Constitution. Your Constitution states under Article IV, Section 1.A.u. that the Judicial Board Chairperson is disqualified from sitting on the Student Senate. Senator Jordan Miles clearly serves on this board and is an incredibly vocal representative of SGA, as well as a Judicial Board Chair...please explain how it is ethical for this to occur. If it were any other organization that contradicted their constitution in such a way, you would deny their funding until they righted the wrong. Can we deny your funding, or at least some of your powers? This seems highly hypocritical to me. Perhaps you should mind your own P's and Q's before minding everyone else's.
SGA, you need to stop talking poorly about other clubs and organizations. On numerous occasions I have overheard members of SGA (1. because I know them and 2. because they were wearing their polos) talking bad about student groups. How is this appropriate? You do not have to agree with every club or organization on this campus, but it is your job to recognize and support (in public) each club and organization that has gone through the proper procedures to become recognized by the University. Get off of your pedestal and act professional.
You should feel guilty putting this on your resume until you start changing things. I'm sick of hearing SGA is so great...PROVE IT and do what is expected of you!
Sincerely,
A member of the student body you are NOT governing properly.
You are an organization that is supposed to represent the entire student body, but it shocks me to see a board largely comprised of individuals from the Greek community, mainly consisting of Alpha Delta Pi's and Theta Chi's. How is this representative of the entire student body? It would be different if the board consisted of these individuals and they were still diplomatic in their decisions and understanding of all students; however, this is not the case.
You are only talking about issues that you are concerned about. Saying that "students don't approach us" is not a valid response considering you scare/intimidate a good amount of people. Go out and ask students what their concerns are. You and your brothers/sisters are not the only ones that you should be representing. I am in no way saying that it is bad/wrong that you are involved in the Greek community on campus; I just think you need to ask/listen to the concerns of others on this campus as well.
Another concern of mine is that you are not following your own Constitution. Your Constitution states under Article IV, Section 1.A.u. that the Judicial Board Chairperson is disqualified from sitting on the Student Senate. Senator Jordan Miles clearly serves on this board and is an incredibly vocal representative of SGA, as well as a Judicial Board Chair...please explain how it is ethical for this to occur. If it were any other organization that contradicted their constitution in such a way, you would deny their funding until they righted the wrong. Can we deny your funding, or at least some of your powers? This seems highly hypocritical to me. Perhaps you should mind your own P's and Q's before minding everyone else's.
SGA, you need to stop talking poorly about other clubs and organizations. On numerous occasions I have overheard members of SGA (1. because I know them and 2. because they were wearing their polos) talking bad about student groups. How is this appropriate? You do not have to agree with every club or organization on this campus, but it is your job to recognize and support (in public) each club and organization that has gone through the proper procedures to become recognized by the University. Get off of your pedestal and act professional.
You should feel guilty putting this on your resume until you start changing things. I'm sick of hearing SGA is so great...PROVE IT and do what is expected of you!
Sincerely,
A member of the student body you are NOT governing properly.
Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 10
Jennifer
posted 12/04/08 @ 4:57 PM EST
Finally a student here at Longwood speaks up and tells the truth about this campus! It's sad that it has taken until the end of the semester to recognize how one sided the SGA has become and will only look out for it's own members and fails to recognize other organizations on this campus. (Continued…)
K
posted 12/06/08 @ 12:28 PM EST
To the student who wrote this letter, while you may be right on some accounts and I'm in no way saying that the SGA is perfect or even right but I was highly offended by your letter. (Continued…)
J
posted 12/06/08 @ 3:09 PM EST
To the above person who commented, I can see your point and understand how you can be offended by someone voicing their opinion so intensely. However, have you even considered if the person that has written this letter IS actually involved? The person was kept anonymous, and was just voicing his or her frustrations. (Continued…)
E
posted 1/06/09 @ 2:53 PM EST
Nice article. It is interesting to see that SGA has not changed over the last 15 years. While attending Longwood, I ran into issues with trying to get money from SGA. (Continued…)
k
posted 1/06/09 @ 7:55 PM EST
You should run to be on SGA this spring when elections are held. Really. You have a lot of "beef" about how the SGA operates and being on the board is a great opportunity to change it and to see why they operate in certain ways. (Continued…)
V
posted 1/09/09 @ 2:31 PM EST
I understand your view in saying that those who have an issue with SGA should run for election, the problem is that when those people who have an issue attempt to run they are usually overpowered by either Greeks or others who are friends with members of Student Government. (Continued…)
m
posted 1/11/09 @ 4:13 PM EST
i totally agree with v. SGA should give the reasons that they are denying money. many times, they just say no and its generally because one or more board members doesn't like someone who is involved in that club or organization OR the person who is asking for the money. (Continued…)
Cam Patterson
posted 1/19/09 @ 1:55 PM EST
The SGA has done some good things this semester for the Student Body. The organization has sponsored or co-sponsored a couple of different events around campus such as MLK Day, Inauguration Watch Party that is coming up in conjunction with the Student Union, a New Lancer Days Event, Tree Lighting Ceremony, and a Voter Registration Drive. (Continued…)
Trudy Berry
posted 1/21/09 @ 9:28 AM EST
Things never change, yet they do: in cycles (4-year cycles). I, too, tried to make comment at SGA meetings and ask that they post agendas and minutes to their website for all students to read, because not all students can make every SGA or SFC meeting, but would like to know what is happening and maybe make comment. (Continued…)
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