As always, if you have money, you can win elections.
All you need to know about Phil’s stance is that he stood before the student senate and said that he wouldn’t care what the student vote would be because he wasn’t letting the name be changed.
clt says to vote often and early.
[quote=“jfickett, post:60, topic:25203”]Results are insignificant. Speaking from 3 years of SGA experience, it is very, very difficult to get anything of substance done as a student leader. SGA passes all kinds of meaningless, unenforceable legislation, but something big like the name change or football takes support (both monetary and vocal) from an entire university community including alums and admins.
The amount of red-tape at this university is astounding (as I’m sure it is throughout all bureaucracies). Point is, nothing significant is going to change until there is a new administration in place that believes in the future of the university as a flagship, not a step-child. Someone who understands the need for our own identity and the importance of establishing a name for ourselves among the average joes of Charlotte.
Phil got coaxed into football. A name change is going to be incredibly more polarizing than football ever was. Ain’t going to happen on his watch. Apparently, neither is a medical school.
Nothing a student body prez can say or do is going to change how Phil and his people think or act, and all the “real” change starts and ends with him.[/quote]
Jobi Wan once again demonstrates why he shed his padawan status long ago. DOBA. Well done, Sir.
There would be no on-campus arena (SAC) if not for the work of several Student Body Presidents and the SGA. Also, the SBP is a non-voting member of the Board of Trustees and they have alot of input and opportunity to provide the voice of the students.
Except that the SBP often misunderstand that their constituents do not include the Chancellor and his desires.
The Student Body President OFTEN fails to give two squats about the students after he/she is elected. Post-election, it’s all about networking.
As a former Student Body President, I would disagree. Some of us even buy FSL’s and support UofC financially decades AFTER graduating. Don’t sell student leaders short, there is alot of opportunity to influence Trustees who only step foot on campus four times a year. But I do agree that CHP will never allow the name change… as ridiculous as that is.
OK, now that I’m back from Toledo, I have a few things to say.
First of all… the bickering from both sides has to stop now. The elections are over. Regardless of who’s side you were on, Dave Craven is our new Student Body President. We can bitch and moan about this and that and everything else, or we can stand behind him and help him actually get things done.
First I’ll tackle the basketball team issue. At one point, the Craven/Markham campaign claimed an endorsement from the men’s basketball team. This much is true. When I saw this, I asked Derrio about it, who told me that no group decision had been made. After bringing this to a close friend in the Craven/Markham campaign, it seemed to be poor communication between Deuce (who was asked for the endorsement) and Craven/Markham. Any post referring to an endorsement from the basketball team was removed by Craven/Markham, the only one that remained was (and still is) on Deuce’s facebook wall. Craven/Markham have no control over this. While I was furious about this at first, I really don’t believe Craven/Markham or their campaign are at fault on this one.
Second, I’ll discuss the accusations that Dave Craven bought off a sorority and that Raegan Perry wants to do away with tailgating and Greek seating. All of this is nothing more than rumor. Perry/Bellamy fully support the Greek system (Darryl himself is a Kappa Alpha Psi) and tailgating. While the vote buying rumor was investigated by student media (as any rumor making such accusations should be) there has been no tangible evidence to support it. While rumors such as this become prominent in political elections, I can guarantee you that the vote buying accusations did not come from anybody within the Perry/Bellamy campaign, and I’m confident that the Greek seating/tailgating rumors originated outside of the Craven/Markham campaign.
I became a part of the Perry Bellamy team because I truly believed that she had the passion for this University in her heart to drive her to make a difference with her office. I truly believed her to be the best candidate, but the student body thought otherwise. To reiterate what I said earlier, the campaign is behind us. We are all 49ers, and the best thing that we can do for our University at this point is to stand behind Dave Craven and Amanda Markham and leave the rumors, judgments, and accusations behind. If Dave Craven truly is going to “Fight for Charlotte” then we need to fight alongside him.
[color=green]I agree Lew. We all need to stand behind Craven/Markham, irregardless. This was a historic Niner voting elections because it had the highest voter turnout ever. Also, both candidates were good and put up a fight. The results were so close! Craven won by only 19 votes (1640-1621). And about Dave not wanting to change the university name, that’s not true. I’ve heard him mention it before. I’m sure he’d be all for it if enough support was shown by people.
Exactly… that is the real issue, enough students don’t know/care how our current name impacts us. We can only go so far… but I do feel that with every incoming freshman class, this student body wakes up just a bit and starts to think of Charlotte as their University rather than the school they happen to go to.
Way to go Lew, very well put Sir.