To the Editor:

Each year, The University News endorses candidates in the Student Government Association election for the purpose of facilitating a “valid distribution of election advice” to their readers-the electorate-of the campus. Now that the endorsements for the 2007 election season have come and gone, and there is a new executive board-elect, we can begin reflecting on the events of the past several weeks. With all the tension that usually goes on back-and-forth between tickets, we have united behind one common fact: This year’s endorsements were unnecessarily harsh on many of the candidates. While the editorials are famous in the “SLU bubble” for their candor and dry humor, we don’t recall it being this personal and sharply worded in the past.

Specifically, Shivany Seepersad is a leader who has proven her dedication time and time again. If The University News accused her of having “tunnel vision” simply because of her unique perspective as an international student and International Student Federation president, we feel this is unfair. Moreover, you may have misjudged her abilities as a leader able to effectively interact with, and advocate for, a broad swath of campus. We hope that wasn’t the case.

We challenge The University News in the future to truly continue pursuing a “valid distribution of election advice.” The students of this campus want to be informed during these elections each year, and, as we have heard from many this year, their newspaper did not deliver this.

While we appreciate the painstaking process The University News goes through each year, replete with hours of observing, researching, and interviewing candidates, and debating internally as a group, we believe you were off the mark this year with your assessment of the candidates.

Now, let’s all just move on and continue doing the important work of the students-all of us, in our respective roles on this campus.

Moving Forward
Raising Standards