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Humor editor Camila Cohen Suárez comments on her knowledge of U.Va.’s Student Council and their activities

I am going to be one-hundred percent honest with you all — my knowledge of the University’s student governance is incredibly limited. In fact, if it were not something specifically underlined by the member of the University Guide Service who presented to my tour group in 2019, nor something emphasized on most descriptions of the University’s student body life, I probably would never have realized that Student Council existed here. Other than voting when I notice the school email notifying me that the ballot has been released, I barely know anything. 

Importantly, I should note that it is most likely part of my individual privilege that has contributed heavily to my lack of attention towards student governance on Grounds. Or maybe it is because when something important happens on Grounds, I usually am notified of it by some message on a random GroupMe chat I am in, or some other social media post. Or perhaps it’s the fact that my attention span lasts only long enough to focus on passing my classes and keeping up with national events. So this whole article thing is a bit of an educational journey for me. Educating oneself is very important. Let’s do that now.

The Student Council website has a deep blue quotation reading, “the purpose of Student Council is to protect and improve the rights, opportunities and quality of life of every student at the University of Virginia.” That sounds proper and nice, doesn’t it? For those who may not know — like me before I just skimmed through the Student Council website for the first time in my entire undergraduate career — the group is made up of the Executive Board, which is composed of branches, and the representative body, which is made up of three different committees. I tried clicking the “About the Branches” button on the Executive Board page and the “About the Committees” button on the Representative Body page and found that both links are, quote, “lost in the stacks.” Okay then. Credit when credit is due, I did find a page that had the information I was seeking. 

It is a lot. And frankly, one can not help but feel overwhelmed and stuck between wanting to be an informed student on the doings and goings of student governance while also trying to keep together their own lives by keeping attention on their classes and future careers. There are people who can balance the responsibilities and duties of being an active participant — I’m sure there must be. After all, Student Council does have actual people running it. They probably care to get the job done — one would hope at least.

So, what is Student Council doing to serve the students of this grand university? If my math is correct, about 139 resolutions, bills and bylaws have been put to the test between April 2020 and now, with less than 10 being either retired or failed. That sounds like a lot has been done. Maybe that is because, according to the voting record — for the years 2021 to 2022 — no one ever votes no on these things. And from what I’ve heard about Student Council, it seems that the representatives don’t ask questions in meetings either — unless they’re meeting to talk about Office365, of course. I must admit a little bit of confusion — no one ever has questions? For instance, there have been two groundbreaking budgets approaching $200,000 with the aim of strengthening and implementing many programs to help students on Grounds. I think it is great that more services are being made available to students like myself. However, it appears that members of the representative body asked little to no questions. And I do not mean negative questions or doubts, just regular questions regarding these budgets that have repeatedly — and I mean repeatedly — referred to as “historically unprecedented.”

It is not a bad thing that these bills and resolutions are being passed. In fact, it is good that a lot of productive legislation looks to be making its way through the process of student government. But that does make one wonder — who is actually working? Who amongst these groups of students are putting in the hours to propose legislation and ask the hard questions, rather than just voting yes on whatever comes across the table? 

Now, unfortunately, this isn’t something that can be answered in 750 words or less. So when you find the answer, can you let me know?

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