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Editorial 10.26.12: Senate communication is key for success

Student leaders are defined as individuals who are driven, influential and above all, motivated. Bradley’s campus has an array of student leaders who work with their friends, peers, faculty members and administration members to make changes on campus.

Even though this is a broad definition, this is not something we have seen from Student Senate this semester. From the outside looking in, it is unclear what Student Senate has been up to these last few weeks.

While we cannot speak for conversations that take place during committee and executive meetings, progress is not apparent during General Assembly reports. And as far as accomplishing goals the executive council advertised during the elections, there aren’t signs anything will happen this semester. If the Scout doesn’t know what senate is doing, it can be assumed the student body doesn’t, either.

Last April in an article titled “Elections End in Victory for Buckingolts,” Student Body Vice President senior Bailey Miller told the Scout her goal for this year is to improve Student Senate’s external communications. However, other than the typical Hilltop Happenings article, there has been minimal communication about what is going on in Student Senate.

The Student Senate Facebook page is rarely utilized and the Student Senate website clearly hasn’t been updated since August, making it difficult for students to be engaged. Because student senate is suppose to be serving the student body it is important to foster the relationship between students and senators.

Some of the goals presented last spring as part of the red ticket, which consisted of current Student Body President Alan Buckingolts, Secretary Dashawn Cason and Treasurer Rose Wurster, were to host another all-campus event like Homecoming week and to increase school spirit. While both of these goals would take a substantial amount of planning and the board may be in the works of putting something together, there has been no communication of what steps senate is taking to make these a reality.

So far this semester, senate has only proposed two resolutions, the first being an internal change to the Student Senate constitution. The second, a resolution that is discussed in this week’s article titled “Student Senate Debates Trash Can Additions on Campus,” proposes to add more garbage cans on campus and on Fredonia Ave. While there have been two resolutions, it could be argued that neither truly impact student life.

Last spring the Scout was interested to see what ideas that Buckingolts and Miller, both new to senate this fall, would bring to the table. But we haven’t been impressed.

This editorial isn’t necessarily a criticism of senate’s work this semester; rather, it’s a nudge that we recognize they can do more, and they should. We are holding Student Senate accountable for what they committed to the student body last spring.

The end of the semester is quickly approaching; it’s time to get the wheels turning.

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