"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes." This quote by Peter Drucker, a top-notch and highly respected author of management-related issues, suggests the best possible way to approach the Student Government Association elections.
When it comes down to it, we are voting on the leaders for the next year, the highest representatives of the student body. These people are not the ones who will put every student idea into action - that's what the student senators and the rest of the student body are for. The executive board is there to lead the senators. They are there to assist them with problems, guide them, inspire senators to become leaders and empower senators with the tools to better Ball State University.
This is why U.N.I.T.E.D. Initiative is the only choice in the SGA elections.
U.N.I.T.E.D. Initiative, or The U as students are beginning to call it, has more than six years of combined experience with SGA and the governance system. Vote Bare has two. As the quote from Drucker states, leadership is defined by results, not attributes. Vote Bare has Greek life experience and Residence life experience, as does The U, but that is not applicable to Student Government.
The fact that Vote Bare is promoting this outsider approach scares me as a student of this university. As a member of several organizations around campus, including SGA, I can tell you almost any organization would crumble if you brought in an outsider with no previous experience to run the organization. Why are we even considering doing this with student government? It's ludicrous and preposterous.
The U's presidential candidate, Betsy Mills, has written countless pieces of legislation to better Ball State, as well as aided other senators with writing legislation of their own.. She is also the most senior member of SGA on campus along with Asher Lisec and Rodney Blount, the current president and vice president of SGA.
Jamie Manuel, The U's vice-presidential candidate, was a former parliamentarian for SGA and a former historian of his fraternity where he kept order of student senate and chapter meetings, respectively. Essentially, there isn't another person on this campus more qualified to run and oversee a student senate meeting and keep order than Manuel.
Jessica Tindal, The U's secretarial candidate, has an extensive background in the multicultural community of Ball State. She brings a perspective on diversity, a part of their platform, to work with the university to accomplish its goals.
Zac Davis, The U's treasurer candidate, brings SGA leadership experience as well as practical experience of running an organization as the former two-time president of Spectrum. He has direct treasurer experience as the current treasurer for Ball State's chapter of The ONE Campaign.
I write this letter not to bash Vote Bare. I personally find Vote Bare's presidential candidate, Matt Bare, to be a respectable individual. I consider two of the candidates to be my friends, as I grew up through elementary school with one and am an active, participating member of the Greek community with the other. By no means is this an attack on any of them.
This is simply a matter of looking at the best possible choice for the SGA elections, for the student body and for Ball State University. U.N.I.T.E.D. Initiative truly is the only choice. They are all proven leaders, but more importantly, they have all proven they can produce results.
This is why, as a student of Ball State and an active member of Student Government Association myself, I urge you to vote for U.N.I.T.E.D. Initiative on Feb. 26 and 27. Elect them to be the leaders to assist, inspire and empower students like myself that want to make this a better campus for all of us.
Write to Shawn at smmeier2@bsu.edu
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