Next week, BYU will embark on another process that makes BYU unique – BYUSA elections. While this may be one of those times that BYUSA takes the face of a political institution, it is important to recognize that there are still key structural differences between it and many of the student associations across the country.
BYUSA is a student association, not a student government. It is an advisory board, not an executive board. This is not, however, uncommon in the country. While we as students might like to think that this type of student association is unique to BYU, nearly half of all American colleges and universities follow this advisory/collaborative model.
What does this mean for the upcoming elections? Well, first of all, you can forget about that 11-story parking tower and the shuttle from the Marriott Center. It isn’t going to happen in the near future, and any candidates promising you anything of this sort do not understand their sphere of influence. Feasibility should play an important part in your decision to vote for someone.
This isn’t to say that BYUSA cannot and does not do anything meaningful. It also doesn’t mean that voting is not important. Elections are the best way to make the association more responsive to students’ needs. Elections provide a natural arena in which the best ideas can compete as well as allowing students to choose which ideas they want to see implemented during the upcoming year. This democratic process allows students to decide which type of activities they want to see, how the association will work with the administration and who will act as their official voice.
Last year, students expressed interest in and elected the current executive BYUSA presidency on the campaign promise of extending the library’s hours during the Spring and Summer terms from 10 o’clock to midnight. Students can expect to see this change in May.
BYUSA’s over arching role is two-fold: to serve and advise. No student association would be complete if it did not focus its efforts on providing the best possible social activities for students. BYU is continually ranked as providing one of the best social networks in the country. Whether it’s through providing a cheap Friday night date or a club for a quirky niche of people, BYUSA plays a large role in creating this environment.
The association also advises the administration on key student issues. BYUSA’s influence does not come through legislative power, but reliable research and the accurate reflection of student opinion. The obvious question is “does this work?” Well, if that means “Do students always get what they want?” the answer is “no.” However, the system has by and large proven to be more effective for BYU than the previous legislative model that existed.
This model has been successful in helping the administration build the Health Center, increase financial aid by $6,000 for married graduate students in 2004 and help the Major Advisement Center create the Major Fair last year. This year, we have worked with the Office of Information Technology to place stand-alone print stations in locations across campus. This service allows students to electronically send documents from home to on-campus printers to be printed at later convenience.
As this year’s BYUSA presidency, we encourage all students to inform themselves about the candidates and the issues on which they are running. See what each of the candidates is promising and then ask yourself if their vision is in line with what you actually want and think is feasible at this university. BYUSA elections exist to make the student association responsive to students. They are only successful to the degree in which students immerse themselves in the process and make their opinion count.
Christopher Giovarelli is the BYUSA president.
