A central platform point of the Opere campaign for SBP was to make student government more inclusive and open. This week, Student Body President-elect Bradley Opere had his first opportunity to demonstrate his commitment to that promise.
Tuesday, the four students selected for codified positions in the executive branch appeared before Student Congress.
Notably, all four were white and male. Two were white, male, Morehead-Cain Scholars.
Opere’s Executive Branch will also be composed of a chief of staff, who is a white, male Morehead-Cain Scholar, and three senior advisers, which will include one person of color and two women. Of the eight officers, the five with management responsibility are white males, the majority of whom are also a part of a single elite scholarship group. This is significantly less diverse than recent administrations.
We are troubled by this step backward for student government. We do not question the qualifications of the individuals, nor do we demonize them on the basis of their race or gender.
We do take issue with the decision to create such a singularly unrepresentative body of leadership. Because this is an elected student government — which represents our student body to the administration and the state — we believe our leaders should reflect our student body. And we believe our SBP holds the responsibility for it.
We recognize the strict vetting process for applicants which Opere did not control. But Opere could have certainly encouraged more qualified women and people of color to apply.
To put it simply, we expected more. We expected advocacy, and we expected representation.
