This Students’ Union election season has been the mildest and least exciting of all Students’ Union elections that I have observed in the past five years.
With only one candidate for president and CEO, and with that candidate running a very thought out and well prepared campaign, the result seems inevitable.
This year, there are only 15 students running for board of directors and 12 spots. Out of that 15, only one has prior director experience, three are from Brantford and 12 are from Waterloo.
While we back up and support the four board candidates that we chose to endorse, most of the candidates appeared to be unprepared or even absent.
Four board candidates were absent from the Waterloo Open Forum — four. And those four were students at the Waterloo campus. The three candidates from the Brantford campus were there.
Open Forum is the chance to sell yourself, to engage with the students and answer questions about your platform. How can you expect to accurately represent the student body if you can’t even show up?
Student elections aren’t a joke. It’s not a popularity contest. It’s not something that should be done just to add flavour to your resume. It’s not something to do because your friends are.
Being a director is a commitment and a responsibility. Your job is to represent the students and to be a leader. That’s why being engaged as a voter is so important.
It’s your duty, as a Laurier Golden Hawk, to vote for the candidates who you felt were engaging. Vote for the candidates who are taking this seriously. Vote for the candidates who showed up.
