Last year, The Post endorsed Will Klatt for president of Ohio University Student Senate, mainly because the editorial board thought that if Klatt were elected, he would be a good voice to have within a student institution that often seems to be a place for young bureaucrats. We might not always agree with him, but dissent is good for the health of the university, and it creates conversations about problems that might otherwise go unaddressed.
Unfortunately, Klatt was not elected. But Olivia Dawson, a member of Students for a Democratic Society along with Klatt, did get a place in office as a senator-at-large.
Last week, we were sad to see Dawson choose to resign because of her belief that senate did not do enough to address last year's no-confidence vote in OU President Roderick McDavis. If Students for a Democratic Society ever hopes to effect change on campus, infiltrating the system seems like it would be more effective than denouncing it. This strategy would also make the group seem more representative of the student body, rather than the fringe organization it sometimes appears to be.
Senate is a fairly powerless group; what they do only creates change if the OU administration decides to listen. Dawson should have understood this when she began her term. But even if this came as a rude awakening, the better decision might have been to stick it out, raise hell and make sure the voices of her constituents were heard. Her resignation instead seems like a sad gesture, a shrug to the powers that be, rather than the passionate action that Students for a Democratic Society is known for ' and the political leadership that is needed on this campus.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of the executive editors.
17 Archives
Senator should have tried to fix flawed student government from the inside
