Disparity could influence future involvement

With the spring Student Gov­ernment Association elections on the horizon, non-Greek stu­dents are wondering if they even stand a chance when matched up against their Greek oppo­nents.

Julie Salter, a senior sociology major, worries that not all stu­dent voices are truly heard be­cause of the Greek control.

Salter says that political re­alities prevent all students from participating in SGA.

“If I wanted to run but knew the leadership was one way, I would think my chances of win­ning would be slim to none,” says Salter.

Her concerns could be justi­fied based on last year’s spring election results.

Of those elected, 64 percent were confirmed to be associated with a Greek social organiza­tion.

(The number could be higher but some SGA members’ Greek affiliations could not be con­firmed).

Additionally, every member of the SGA leadership is Greek. All four officers of the executive branch are members of a social fraternity or sorority.

The same can be said for the four senate department heads.

“There are people that are re­ally qualified but don’t get the chance because it’s more po­litical rather than about the stu­dents,” she says.

Not all students share Salter’s concerns. In fact, some see Greek candidates as better po­tential choices.

Zachary Cheatwood, a non- Greek freshman kinesiology ma­jor, says that he could see where Greek candidates could make better representatives.

He explains that this is be­cause Greeks are often very in­volved around campus.

“They know the round-about with what’s going on,” says Cheatwood. “You want some­one who is involved.”

To Cheatwood, all he hopes to see in SGA is that he is repre­sented well, Greek lead or oth­erwise.

“It doesn’t matter to me if someone is Greek. I don’t care as long as they do a good job.”