The Eastern Michigan Student Senate narrowly voted against a resolution that would make students who are not in Student Government ineligible to run for the position of student body president or student body vice president.
The resolution would have made it mandatory for any student wanting to be considered for either position to have served for a minimum of 12 weeks with student government.
Senators on both sides of the issue debated for a while on the resolution, and it failed with eight no votes, seven yes votes and one abstention.
Rebecca Kiraz, the senator who authored the resolution, said it was necessary to make sure the candidate for student body president is qualified and familiar with student government.
“Coming into an org. with no previous experience, it can get messy,” she said.
Senator Ashley Reynolds was also in favor of the resolution because she said if you don’t have the time and the interest to be a part of Student Government, you shouldn’t be able to lead the student body.
“I feel like we should hold the president and vice president to higher standards,” Reynolds said.
Senator Ashley Adams disagreed with the resolution because of its wording. She said it was based on opinions, not facts or data from other schools that also didn’t allow non-student government members to become candidates for similar positions.
Kiraz said the University of Michigan has the same requirement for its student body president, and it has worked well. Director of Student Relations Phoebe Conybeare said other universities in Michigan, such as Lake Superior State and Grand Valley State, have this requirement as well and they saw good results from it.
“The student I talked to from Lake Superior State University said before this stipulation was in place, their organization fell apart,” Conybeare said. “The next year, when they put this in place, they got back on track.”
Senator Jaimar Scott used President Barack Obama as an example for why he thought the resolution should have passed. He said Obama’s experience in the United States Senate better prepared him for his role in the White House.
Student Body President Antonio Cosme spoke to the Senate to oppose the resolution and said he would have vetoed it if the Senate approved it.
“We’re not an elitist organization,” Cosme said. “We’re not an organization that’s about promoting from within. We want the best and the brightest students to be involved with Student Government.”
Cosme, who served as director of political action last year, said his involvement helped him to prepare for his role as president this year, but he said other people on campus shouldn’t be barred from running.
“I think it’s fundamental for someone running for student body president to know about Student Government and be present at meetings and get to know people in the meetings,” he said. “But people in Student Government already have an advantage in forming a platform and in every aspect of the game.”
Cosme said he was surprised to see the vote so close.
“I’m proud of the senators who stood up against it to keep it an open organization that represents everyone at Eastern’s interests,” he said.
Also, a resolution was passed at the meeting to show how each senator votes on non-procedural resolutions in each of their meetings on Student Government’s website. Before, only the number of votes each way was published online in the minutes after they were approved. Now, students will be able to see how each senator voted individually.
Speaker of the Senate Aaron Jameyson, the author of the resolution, said he wrote it to provide more transparency to student government and allow students to be able to see how each senator votes on each resolution if they were unable to attend the meetings.
The resolution passed with a majority of the votes. Arguments against the resolution included it not providing students with the context of each vote – only a “yes” or “no” next to their names. Jameyson said the actual resolution would be posted as well so students could see the wording of each resolution, not just its main topic.
