Last week the Technique published its Consensus Opinion — its annual endorsement of one of the Student Government (SGA) executive tickets. In it, the Editorial Board asserted that “our campus is divided” over a year’s worth of contentious issues. They also mentioned that our competitors are the “unifiers that this campus needs.”
Nagela & Shane agree that unity is much needed in our community, and we are excited to demonstrate in this run-off process that we are the best suited to fight for that goal of unity on campus.
A vote for Nagela & Shane in the run-off is a vote in support of that fight and in support of well-equipped candidates advocating for all students. Still, nearly 80% of the entire Georgia Tech campus does not vote in SGA elections (that’s even less in a runoff).
The reasons for not voting are varied and many, but it comes down to a simple truth that most of Tech’s student body believes that casting a ballot will have little to no impact on student life or any on-campus issues.
When roughly 20 percent of campus decides the next year’s Executive ticket, we don’t need candidates who tell campus to come to them. We need candidates who will meet you where you are. Who care enough to hear your thoughts on club funding or disability services on the way to class or in line for lunch. Who have labored for years — not just the past few months — to gather student and administrative opinion. Who have the courage to say “that’s not practical” and the wisdom to say “… but here’s what is.”
While some of the “innovative ideas” presented by other tickets — and also endorsed by the Technique — sound promising or enticing, many of them are simply not feasible given the way Tech operates as well as how it is funded.
Furthermore, some of these ideas are already present on our campus, but not highly publicized or easily accessible. We know this because Nagela is the only candidate whose role in SGA involves working directly with both faculty and administration on issues like these every single week.
Our insights are informed by hands-on work, and our goals are very much within the realm of potential implementation. Adding numerical data from the CIOS surveys in order to improve CourseCritique, creating a mental health nexus portal on BuzzPort and covering our bus stops are all goals that are very much within reach.
Many of these changes are necessary because Tech has grown very rapidly over the past few years in terms of the size of the student body as well as its prestige as an educational institutional. However, our infrastructure and technological resources have not always grown at the same pace.
We’re experiencing growing pains, and the best way to handle this is by bolstering, improving, and replacing programs that are already present on campus — not by making empty promises for new initiatives that are not feasible.
While the Technique makes an endorsement from the majority opinion of its Editorial Board, you as a student can make an endorsement of your own — one that will make your vote matter. Individual votes matter even more when so few students vote, so it’s important to pick a ticket that can bring the changes they say they will.
Our fellow candidates are great people with great intentions; however, we believe that we are the ticket most prepared to bring realistic, effective, and positive change to our campus — to truly be a voice for those who feel their vote won’t change things.
Voting for Nagela & Shane is a vote for real change because we know that: together, WE CAN.