The Executive Powers: On Tuesdays, We Wear Wigs
by Josh Mulvaney photos by Josh Mulvaney and Wesley Vance
“The majority of student governments are very ineffective. The ones that are effective commit themselves to a few things and work on them furiously.” Juniors Zach Sturman and Michael Faikes heard these words of guidance from College of Charleston’s President Emeritus Lee Hignon last year and they set out to put them into practice. When they assumed the roles of Student Body President and Vice President last semester, Sturman and Faikes decided to make some major changes in the organization – and they received overwhelmingly positive results. Thus far, this new juggernaut has created a new addition to the campus meal plan, increased the quality of Residence Life, spearheaded a drug amnesty policy across the state and even worked toward providing students with a much needed umbrella rental service. The political duo seized the opportunity to run last semester after they realized there was a troubling dichotomy between SGA’s purported role and its actual efficiency over the past years. This was the problem they set out to fix. “The reason we ran,” Sturman said, “is [because] we asked the question, ‘What has student government been doing
for the student body? What have they done for students?’” According to Faikes, “We’ve both been on SGA for the past two years together, and we could not tell you a great thing that SGA has done for the past two years.” In the eyes of Sturman and Faikes, SGA was simply not operating as a student government should. The primary difference between the old structure and the new is the role of four of SGA’s six committees. The Allocations Committee and Student Organization Review Board will remain the same, but the other four committees have dropped their specific roles and now share only one operative: initiatives. Each committee will decide upon a timely and relevant problem on campus and set out to fix it as fast as possible. These committees, each motivated by a common initiative, have created greater flexibility and momentum not found in previous years. Even SGA’s finances have been redistributed. “In years prior, the majority of our funds were spent on non-profits in our
Michael Faikes and Zach Sturman, Vice President and President of SGA respectively, are changing the way the organization fundamentally functions in order to make it more effective. (Photo by Josh Mulvaney)
26
the yard