CORRECTION: A previous version of this story used the wrong photo for Cole Simons. The story has been update to reflect this change. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
THE ISSUE: The vote on the future of graduate student governance is Friday. The editorial board invited student leaders to discuss both sides of the issue. You can read the other viewpoint here.
By Cole Simons
I advocated strongly for “Better Together” last year. However, graduate students rejected this plan, and I respect their decision. “Better Together” might not be the right solution, but neither is “Two for Two.” Tearing student government in half will not strengthen student representation on this campus. Defeating this referendum is a matter of preserving self-governance at UNC and the power of student voices. Anything short will yield a major reduction in the power of the student voice.
To explain this, I have to answer: “What does student government do?” The simple answer is a lot. In the current system, both undergraduate and graduate and professional students sit on administrative boards all across campus. Students have a hand in almost every policy, practice and fee we have at UNC, extending as far as a voting seat on the Board of Trustees. This is unique to Carolina. The referenda threatens all of this.
This election doesn’t decide the new constitution nor the future structure of student government, as chosen by students. Administration, due to the vast number of responsibilities they’ve given to student government, will decide who fills what roles and how these systems will be managed. It’s been made clear by administration that instead of expanding these roles, it is more likely that they remove these roles from student hands and instead hand them back to administration. Further, this jeopardizes our seat on the Board of Trustees. Gone would be the days that students have a seat and a strong, united voice at the table where the biggest decisions affecting us are made. This level of administrative involvement and reduction of student responsibility is by far the largest risk student self-governance and student voice has seen at UNC.
Proponents of “Two for Two” will argue that the student bodies are too different to be tied together. They will argue that the student government that currently exists doesn’t care about the issues of graduate and professional students. This is not true. GPSF is the only agency tied to student government expressly empowered to look out just for their individual needs. Student Congress and the Executive Branch have sat down with GPSF leadership in an attempt to reach compromises to make their voice stronger while continuing to make the student voice stronger. These attempts at compromise have been rejected.
The time has come to say no. This election doesn’t solve issues. Whether you are an undergraduate, a graduate or a professional student, a split will hurt you. On Friday, vote no to both to keep Carolina united.
