The issues around the proposed amendment to the student government constitution voters will consider today are not simple. No matter what result is reached, the way student government operates will change.
Representatives of the Graduate and Professional Student Federation are attempting to create separate, independent student governments: one for undergraduate students, another for graduate and professional students. This editorial board fundamentally agrees with the right of self-determination behind this proposed amendment.
Nonetheless, because separation will have far-reaching and uncertain consequences that could weaken the representation of all students in University policymaking, we ask students to vote for the Better Together proposal.
For years, graduate and professional student leaders have had to endure petty behavior from members of Student Congress. They have seen their student fees disproportionately allocated to groups and services for undergraduates. Meanwhile, because the student body president has traditionally been an undergraduate student, they have not enjoyed direct representation on the Board of Trustees.
All the while, graduate students have interests distinct from undergraduates.
From this perspective, separation makes sense.
But there are potentially significant pitfalls. Separation creates the possibility of a rotating seat on the Board of Trustees where the traditional student body president would sit on the board one year and the Graduate and Professional Student Government president the next. This rotating seat would weaken continuity in the position and hamper accountability for the representative of students on the board. Also, the amount of funding available for both graduate and undergraduate student groups could fall by a significant amount.
With the Better Together proposal, demands made by the GPSF are met and potentially harmful consequences are put off. Graduate and professional students would have a chance to see if the restructuring of student government resulting from the Better Together proposal satisfies their original concerns. Separation could be pursued again in the future if the reforms fail.
Finally, the intricacies and potential results of separation are not sufficiently clear to most students. Even the most informed students on this campus don’t know exactly how separation would play out.
