Deciding who you want to vote for is entirely different from telling someone else how to vote. The Daily Tar Heel editorial board has a long-standing tradition of endorsing a student body president every year — endorsing is helpful for the community and something the editorial board enjoys doing.
Going into this semester, I was excited to be an opinion editor during student body president election season. Now, it pains me to say that this year, you will not see an endorsement of any student body president candidate from The Daily Tar Heel’s editorial board. We simply don’t know what to say, given all that has happened during this election season.
To the candidates appearing on tomorrow’s ballot, Elizabeth Adkins and Maurice Grier, I want to say I am sorry. Our decision to not endorse has nothing to do with you as a person, or your platforms. We wish you both the best of luck in the election. If anyone is on the fence about who to vote for, I encourage you to read the many election articles written by The Daily Tar Heel's university desk reporters. Don’t let this election season keep you from being an informed voter.
The animosity and pettiness of this year's election season is why I have decided the editorial board cannot tell you who to vote for. Our board wouldn’t have had time to meet with the candidates, which means our endorsement would be limited in scope and wouldn’t provide any new information.
I believe student governance doesn’t have to be like this. For years, we have seen SBPs make big promises. For them, the editorial board's biggest criticism was usually when they left promises unfulfilled and edged closer to the administration, away from students. While this is still an issue, it is a result of a larger problem.
At first I was shocked at how awfully this election season turned out, but as I am writing this, I realize the problem seems to be systemic. I know I feel unrepresented in student government, and I imagine many of you do, too — which is partly on us as voters and community members. Student voice is more important than any one student, and I am ashamed that we, as a community, are letting certain student government members dilute our voice through constant infighting.
That said, the responsibility is equally on the members of student government who got us into this mess in the first place.
Student governance shouldn’t be a resume booster. It should be an obligation to defend student interest and needs. Our student leaders should be representing us to the administration, even if it comes at the cost of making a lot of highly paid people in South Building upset.
I sincerely hope whoever wins tomorrow's election will see that student governance has ultimately failed to uphold its mission of acting in students' best interest. I also encourage everyone to not move past the anger and shame you may feel about this election until we see real change.
Maybe, through combined efforts, we can create a student government, and be lead by a student body president who can effectively stand up for us and act as an amplifier for our voice.
