To the Editor:
Vanderbilt Student Government seems to be a campus organization we cannot escape. After a “historic” presidential election, the undergraduate population now finds itself in the midst of the senatorial campaign season. That means more flyers, more slogans and more pictures of people we have never met all over campus. And while so many compete fiercely for a few seats in the senate, the question remains: what is the real purpose of a student government?
As platforms continue to be created with promises that cannot be kept, it seems that the perspective of VSG’s real purpose has been lost. VSG is not an organization that is going to create an unlimited meal plan. VSG has little control over things like on-campus parking. And VSG is incapable of solving every issue and frustration that arises with housing.
But what I have realized in serving on VSG for over a year now is that there are things that the organization can and should be doing. VSG was behind Gmail as an alternative to webmail. VSG has worked with Dining to improve our options and expand the Taste of Nashville program. VSG will introduce a more convenient, reliable and free airport shuttle at the end of this week.
What I am getting at is this: VSG is not about making Vanderbilt a utopian society. But what its focus is and should be is on students; because VSG has the capability to actually help real problems meet tangible solutions. Those solutions are behind initiatives like bringing a Chick-fil-A on campus — something we’re closer to than ever. It’s the driving force behind the extension of the summer study abroad financial aid program. And it’s why new initiatives are critical to the organizations continued success.
VSG is an acronym we have seen over and over again in The Hustler this semester. But what it should represent to students is not an elitist society running weekly meetings that accomplish nothing; VSG must be about the students of Vanderbilt, and the change we can create together.
Tommy Obenchain
Sophomore
College of Arts and Science
