What we want to see from the new Student Association
After an election marked by last-minute changes and ballot errors, Trevor Tobey has been elected Student Association president and will soon settle into his post alongside the rest of the new executive board.
Candidates campaigned across the board for greater accessibility and reform, and we hope that Tobey will foster discussions within the SA to bring it closer to the student body. Here are a few changes that we would like to see this new cohort tackle in the upcoming year.
Increase student engagement and voter turnout
Voter turnout in this year’s elections dropped to 29%, down from 42% last year — which itself was the highest since 2018. And although a last-minute entry by Lovett College freshman Jackson Darr filled the treasurer position, the secretary post will still proceed to a special election.
To make tangible progress on his agenda, Tobey will need to recognize the importance of making students feel heard. Simply, students will engage if they feel the SA is actively working for them. We applaud the work that went into revising the entire constitution — and believe many of those changes should appear again on a future ballot — but believe the incoming SA should take lessons about the amendments’ failures to meet turnout thresholds.
Support the VP Passion Fund
By funding activities students are passionate about but lack club support to host, the SA can directly impact students and improve goodwill. The new SA should not only support EVP Mahtab Dastur in setting up the Passion Fund, but also work to formalize guidelines for it so that events actually benefit the student body.
Protect public parties
We’ve written in the past about the damage overly strict restrictions on public parties can do to long-standing traditions. Our position remains the same, especially in light of the end to Wiess College’s Night of Decadence over the summer.
We’re sure that neither the new SA nor administration will disagree with us on the need for prioritizing safety — but there are ways to create safe environments for public parties without harming the self-governance and traditions of our residential colleges.
We’re hopeful that the new SA will work with administrators to protect the traditions that make our university unique, without making publics as empty as your high school’s lamest dance with the dress code to boot.
Advocate for more student discounts
For college students who typically don’t have a lot of disposable income, the prices offered by businesses around the Rice community can dissuade them from venturing ‘outside the hedges.’
In fact, reasons to venture into Rice Village decrease linearly with the number of sensually-named high-end furniture stores, “elevated dining” experiences and $300 cowboy boots sold. Increasing and publicizing student discounts should be a high priority for the new SA.
Stand up for free speech and diversity on campus
Amid a turbulent political climate, upholding discussions forums of political dialogue on campus is more important now than ever. The new SA should create opportunities for political and cultural clubs to hold productive conversations on difficult issues.
The SA should always prioritize campus issues over national politics — but sometimes we can’t deny that the two overlap. While the SA needn’t be political, we also don’t encourage it to remain strictly apolitical. The new SA should strive to keep open lines of dialogue and know when students are affected — not to simply reject the political while striving for neutrality.
Editor’s Note: Thresher editorials are collectively written by the members of the Thresher’s editorial board. Current members include Riya Misra, Spring Chenjp, Maria Morkas, Sarah Knowlton, Sammy Baek, Shruti Patankar, Juliana Lightsey, Arman Saxena and Kathleen Ortiz.
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