Results for the closely watched election pitting two student government constitutions together, Senate and Assembly, were announced shortly after polls closed on Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m. The Student Senate shared a statement that the resolution to adopt Assembly as the new form of student government had passed, leading to a full transition to the new form of governance starting in the next fall semester.
This student government change marks one of few complete student government referendums since Elizabethtown College was founded in 1899. The historic referendum will likely need a few years to completely take its form and will set out with an agenda similar to Senate’s “advocating for student rights,” but with different structures and policies aimed at making advocacy and legislation a priority.
Voting was open for the Student Body for a whole week, and representatives from the two forms of student government worked to ensure that students understood the major differences and were aware of how this change will impact them.
For most students, this election did not mean much for them, as is the case with previous Senate elections. Most students believe that whatever changes happen, it will only affect a small portion of students who are actively participating in student government activities. Students have spoken about feeling distant from what happens in student government and they did not see why that would change now.
To those undecided voters, both student governments sent messaging to encourage them to vote for their respective constitutions. The Senate had told students that having active student representative participation in the Traditions Committee that plans events like Junior-Senior Formal would be lowered since the Assembly does not state that the Traditions Committee will be an official part of the Assembly.
The idea of losing those valuable events mattered a lot for students, and the Assembly pushed out messaging that shows that the Traditions Committee, which will now be housed institutionally, will receive more support as well as equal, if not more, funding due to it being part of the College institution, rather than the student government. The Assembly had also said that students who join class clubs are then able to be nominated to sit on the institutional Traditions Committee, allowing for continued student feedback.
“Not only will the Traditions Committee be better served now as an institutional entity,” senior legal studies major and Chair of the Transition Committee–which created the Assembly constitution–Jalen Belgrave said. “But student senators and representatives will also now be able to better advocate and legislate for the student body, as they would not need to worry about shifting all their focus and resources on the Traditions Committee.”
The Assembly’s main messaging was that their constitution would increase representation of the different identities on campus. By having representatives for student employees, student athletes, members of the Diversity Board, as well as many others, Assembly hoped to make sure that every Etown student would be able to play a part in student government.
This messaging was reciprocated by the Senate representatives, as they said that the current student government allows for all students to join. The problem, they explained, was not that the Senate does not provide ample opportunity to participate in student government but is that students do not often feel inclined to join the Senate.
Two days before the polls closed, Transition Committee members hosted a questions & answers session to help alleviate any confusion that students may have. Gibble, where the event was held, was filled with representatives of both Assembly and Senate. There were several questions about ad-hoc committees and caucasus, which the Assembly has as an addition to its constitution.
“Our mission is to have a student government that is more goal-based,” Belgrave said. “By allowing for the creation of ad-hoc committees and caucasus, we give student senators and representatives the chance to be innovative in tackling challenges that students face.”
The Senate’s current structure will remain until the end of this academic year, while elections take place for next year’s Assembly. The Transition Committee will start working with the Senate, Dean of Students Nichole Gonzalez and the Senior Leadership Team to ensure a smooth transition.
