The student body has selected next year’s Student Government Association executives: president, Samantha Howard; executive vice president, Alex Joyce; financial vice president, Jonathan Perdue; academic vice president, Samantha Morr; and administrative vice president, Michael Harriss.

But, if you didn’t follow the election too closely, you might not realize that two executive-board seats remain to be filled: the International Student Federation and the Black Student Alliance seats.

SGA senators are chosen by their constituents-Marchetti residents choose Marchetti senators, business students vote for business senators, Arts and Sciences students choose Arts and Sciences senators, and so on. But the SGA executive board serves the entire student body. For that reason, the entire student body is responsible for electing the executive board. Every student has a voice, a say in choosing their own leadership.

Why do the ISF and BSA hold executive board positions, when the student body doesn’t vote to fill those seats?
Certainly, these groups are a valuable part of Saint Louis University for the community atmosphere they encourage, the friendships they enable, the skills they advance and the diversity they foster. ISF helps international students deal with the myriad of details associated with going to school in a foreign country. BSA is an organization for the celebration of black history and culture, though anyone can join.

We have other groups on campus devoted to diversity: The Hispanic American Leadership Organization, the Filipino American Student Organization, the Indian Asian Student Association, the Irish American Student Guild, Italian Club, the Muslim Student Organization and the Rainbow Alliance. All of these contribute, yet they do not hold executive board seats on SGA.

If SGA cannot provide formal seats on the executive board to every organization that promotes cultural diversity, it should eliminate all such positions. These groups have been on the executive board since SGA switched to a parliamentary system, according to SGA President Andrew Clifton, but tradition alone is no justification for an outdated practice.

It would be unfortunate to completely eliminate special representation for these groups in student politics. However, they are elected by a constituency that does not represent the student body as a whole. In the interest of equal representation, the only fair alternative would be to give every CSO a seat in the Senate. That, however, is impractical.

Allowing CSOs seats in SGA would incite an egregious conflict of interests in voting and funding issues. Many SGA senators are involved in CSOs, but, when they vote, they vote on behalf of their constituencies. Should CSOs attain senate seats, it would be nearly impossible to keep those senators from voting in their group’s interests, rather than the interests of the student body. Reasoned judgment could rapidly morph into self-seeking promotion.

If ISF and BSA maintain seats on the SGA executive board, then all student groups must have that opportunity. Since that alternative is impractical, the best suggestion is to eliminate these two groups from the executive board altogether. Yes, their concerns are unique and important-but so are the concerns of all student groups.