Every Auburn Student knows about campaign week. Flooded concourses, teams of colors fighting for votes on every corner. Instagram feeds flood with graphics. Everyone’s watching, everyone’s invested. But did it ever strike you that this isn’t the norm? In comparison to other public universities across the south, this is intense.
At other campuses, for many students, SGA elections are often under the radar. You may hear a thing or two, but students aren’t invested on a widespread scale like they are here in Auburn. It’s unavoidable; everyone you know is a stakeholder. You know the names of every candidate, you know their logo, their slogan. This is extraordinary. Involvement is popular and cool, even, which is a rarity. So how did it get like this? What makes Auburn different?
Firstly, the aspect of the Auburn Family. Auburn students, alumni, and fans are known for our tight-knit, passionate support for Auburn. I think these same qualities carry into our election culture. Our culture promotes lifting up of each other and creates voters who want to care and participate in who holds power among the student body.
Students, regardless of personal involvement, make an effort to be informed on candidate policies and make an effort to support those they support. At Auburn, we love our people, and the support candidates garner from their specific on-campus communities is tremendous. Even the candidates who do not end up winning report being uplifted and loved throughout their experience running for office. We’re passionate about our people, and it makes an impact.
One aspect is Greek life involvement. One reason candidacy seems unescapable, is that they often have entire Greek organizations behind them, sometimes even multiple. It seems that every year, each Miss Auburn candidate was in a sorority, many of them even holding positions in that sorority. This year specifically the SGA president is in a fraternity and Vice President is in a sorority.
At most colleges, SGA and Greek life do not go hand in hand. But here, many Greek organizations encourage and sometimes even idolize member involvement on campus, is it for their own gain, reputation, or out of genuine want to lift the people they love up. Obviously, there are benefits to having a member of the organization in a position of power, but further than this, it promotes involvement and mentorship within Greek organizations. Greek organizations want to build members around their beliefs, and among those is almost always campus involvement and contribution. Based on this, I believe Greek involvement in student elections is so prevalent due to the Auburn Family aspect and for the betterment of the organizations.
Lastly, the effect of Student voice and power on student political participation. SGA in Auburn has real power. The people in office do really matter, and can really make a change. This, in turn, encourages voters to feel like their votes and support make a difference too. Among the dozens of committees within SGA, so many decisions that directly affect student life are decided by SGA representatives.
It isn’t just a learning experience for SGA members, but an opportunity to implement university policies and stand up for what they believe in. Students want their voices to matter, and the voices they put in office can make huge differences.
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