TO THE EDITOR:
In his letter to the editor Thursday, (Student Congress) Speaker (Cole) Simons corrected an issue from The Daily Tar Heel’s coverage of Tuesday’s GPSF Senate meeting. However, the Speaker’s primary claims against the Two for Two campaign misrepresent the case for separation.
First, he proposes a false equivalency. He argues against the need for two student governments by conflating graduate students with other student groups (e.g., out-of-state students).
Yet, he misses the point. Unlike the other groups listed, graduate students constitute a separate and distinct student body. We have our own admissions processes, pay different fees, and play vastly different roles on campus than undergraduates.
Second, he presents this change as negative for the student body. Yet, the “united” student body he defends is currently governed by a Student Congress with only two graduate student representatives and an executive branch with no graduate students in major roles. The current structure serves undergraduate interests and cannot sufficiently address the needs and concerns of graduate students.
Finally, in his appeal to the greater issues that affect the campus, like the sexual assault policy, he ignores the fact that the separation plan provides a mechanism for the two student governments to work together on these and other important issues in the future.
Two for Two doesn’t threaten unity at Carolina.
Rather, it poses the question of who should run graduate student affairs: undergraduates or graduates.
Brian Coussens
