The Kennedy High School of Government
by Syon Bhanot, News Editor on October 17, 2007 in Opinion
I am McLovin.
Fall is here, and the election season is upon us! The Kennedy School Student Government elections, that is, which engulfed the campus over the past few weeks. As an MPP1, I was initially indifferent to the elections – I was too busy picking classes, eating free cookies, and figuring out how to open my locker. But as the campaign dragged on, I became more and more astonished by the absurdity of the whole ordeal.
My transformation from aloofness to utter alarm was mostly the result of overexposure. Every day, dozens of emails – usually featuring mildly silly puns on the candidates’ names as subject lines – flooded my inbox. Without fail, flyers were shoved into my hands by strangers in the courtyard as I hurried to class. My mailbox in Town Hall was jammed with candidate statements, and my backpack was stuffed full of stickers telling me who to support.
At the peak point of election madness, I was greeted with laughable full-size color posters, strategically placed in Littauer, featuring candidates looking solemn and trustworthy. For a brief moment, I felt as if I had gone back to my high school days, when teenagers competed with one other for the meaningless title of “Class President” amidst much hoopla. “Vote for Dorothy, and We’ll Increase Our Bake Sale Revenue!” “Have a Heart, Vote for Bart!”
Sadly, I can only come up with a few reasons for the over-the-top campaigning and electioneering that overwhelmed KSG.
First, I figure it has to be about padding resumes. Maybe it’s just me, but that seems strange and a little bit sad. I mean, we’re at the Kennedy School! Do we really need to prove that we are “leaders” that badly?
Secondly, the campaigns have to be about networking. Personally, the mere mention of the word “networking” makes me want to kick myself in the head. I suppose this appeal makes sense given the aspirations of some KSG students, but this goal of “making connections” seems a pretty empty reason for running for student government.
Maybe I am being too harsh. I’m a new student, after all - perhaps I just don’t understand how important the KSSG is to the school. Maybe, just maybe, there are some candidates who really have a vision for KSG and for its students.
Sadly, this line of reasoning was all but blown out the window as I talked to a few MPP2s, who declared that the KSSG was every bit as pointless as I had imagined. I even heard some bizarre stories about last year’s KSSG crop; my favorite was the one about the KSSG President going down to Virginia Tech following the shootings to “show his condolences” and “represent” the Kennedy School. That is odd and arrogant at best, and inappropriate at worst. Is this really what the KSSG President should be doing with our money?
So where do we go from here? Based on everything I’ve seen and heard, it appears as though our system of student government is broken: we have a bizarre and slightly ridiculous “campaign” period followed by a relatively ineffective, pointless year of KSSG governance. Given that, I think it’s fair to say that some changes are needed.
It’s time to hold KSSG officers accountable for their actions and behavior in office. We as a student body simply must demand positive, useful action from our elected representatives. It seems that in years past, candidates have often run for the self-serving reasons suggested earlier, while doing little to inspire real confidence amongst their “constituents.” And we are left with a system that is all pomp and no substance. This has to change – if we want student government to mean anything, we have to insist that it does something.
Am I hopeful? Not really – but I am willing to give the newly elected crop of students a chance to prove that this year will be different.
I hope they can surprise me. I hope they can get rid of the “wet grass” problem in the courtyard. I hope they can fix the automatic hole-puncher in the computer cluster. I hope they can put a spam filter on our email that, you know, filters spam. I hope they can lobby someone for a KSG-wide mid-day break in class for lunch, or for Harvard gym access for KSG students.
But most of all, I hope they can make us proud to say we voted for them. Now that would really be something, wouldn’t it?
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