It’s human to bow out on commitments, but the bigger the commitment in question, the bigger the consequence. Matt Williams announced Wednesday he would not fulfill his commitment to be student body president for the upcoming school year.
While it isn’t the end of the world, Williams’ story should serve as a cautionary tale to those interested in a position of leadership, especially those running for student body president. The Technician staff sees at least four lessons in it:
1.) Don’t run for student body president if you aren’t absolutely sure you can handle it.
It is tempting to run for any leadership position, but in the words of Spiderman’s Uncle, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Student body president is the highest leadership position a student can hold at N.C. State. If you, as a student, don’t think you are capable of leading student government, attending regular meetings and making regular public appearances on top of a full course-load, save yourself the trouble and don’t run.
2.) If you back out, you’ve just wasted a lot of people’s time and money.
Think about your opponents, for starters. Runner-up Lauryn Collier lost her opportunity to represent the student body. She garnered 35.6 percent of the vote in March. While that’s significantly short of Williams’ share, it dwarfed third-place finisher Dwayne O’Rear’s total. All of the Student Body President candidates invested a lot of time and money in their campaigns. And now none of them hold the office.
Collier and O’Rear weren’t the only ones who lost out. University staff spent a lot of time making sure the election came off as planned. Then there are all the students who spent time learning about the candidates and actually voting.
3.) If you back out, you’re throwing several things in the air.
At the moment, former Student Senate President Alex Parker is our student body president. He hasn’t asked for the title, but he has it.
It is unknown at this writing whether Parker will step up as student body president for the entirety of the coming year. Even if Parker leaves his position as student senate president, someone will have to take his place, and someone must take his successors’ place, and on down the line.
It’s not a great recipe for having the best people in the best positions going into the 2013-14 academic year.
4.) Student Government needs to reconsider the way elections are held, so the student body president and his or her “number two” are true running-mates.
Unlike federal elections in the United States, the student body president does not choose his or her running mate. The student senate president, in this case Parker, is automatically given Student Government’s highest position.
In the case of Williams’ resignation, students on summer break will have little choice in the next student body president. Parker was elected by students, but not with the understanding that he might be the next student body president.
Requiring a running mate would emphasize political alignment between the president and his would-be predecessor, and make situations like this less chaotic.
Not to discourage the dreamers, but to anyone who aspires to hold N.C. State’s highest position of student power, please consider these points. When a candidate falters on a commitment like this, Student Government and the entire student body suffers.