By The Editorial Board
If you voted in last year’s USG elections, then you are in the minority at Fordham. Only 923 votes were cast in Rose Hill’s 2012 USG elections, according to a report sent to The Fordham Ram by USG.
Because students can vote for their school’s executive board positions and for their class representatives, they can vote multiple times. The number 923 signifies the total votes cast, not the total number of students who voted. Following this arithmetic, far fewer than 900 students voted in last year’s elections.
With over 3,000 students at Rose Hill, this means that turnout was, at a very generous best, a meager 30 percent. Actual turnout was certainly much lower, and there is little reason to believe that turnout will be any higher this year.
Elections matter. While the election of our next student representatives certainly does not hold the same implications as the election of the next president of the United States, our elected student leaders have an undeniable influence on our lives at Fordham.
Student leaders in USG oversee the allocation of the student activities fee, including which student organizations receive how much funding and for what purpose. They also help to administrate club sports, work hand-in-hand with the dean of each college and aid students in creating new clubs, among many other things.
Yet, there is a far more important role that USG representatives play beyond the more tangible aspects of student life. Leaders in USG act as advocates of the student body. These leaders voice the concerns of the student body to University administration and try to work with the administration to make Fordham better for its students.
The goal of any representative government is to work for its people. USG representatives work during their term on numerous initiatives, such as extended library hours, that help to benefit members of the Fordham community each day. Without the proper elected student government officials, any changes or ideas we may have to enhance Fordham would not be possible.
We at The Fordham Ram see low turnout in USG elections as just one more example of the apathy that infects our entire university. Massive indifference allows the whole student body to be taken advantage of. How can our leaders work to meet our demands if we do not voice them?
There is no shortage in opinion from Fordham students about their university. But why should we just complain about the way things are done at the university or rant about items we dislike? USG elections are one of the most direct — and easy — ways for students to voice their opinions. Silence, and failure to vote, is a missed opportunity.
As the elections for USG’s 2013-2014 term approach, we at The Fordham Ram hope that students will research the candidates and vote. When the polls close on April 12 at 5 p.m., the number of students who voted should be much higher than the embarrassingly low number from 2012.
