For years, the Student Association has existed in mixed roles.
On one side, it has been the cornerstone of an ongoing effort to speak for students in the face of a largely deaf administration. On the other, it has been a safe haven for the ambitious few who aim to augment their resume with vaguely defined public service titles and end up only using the SA as an instrument of vain exclusivity to the detriment of its public image and usefulness.
This year, we have seen the SA in both of its capacities. We hear a great deal about the Executive Board’s efforts on the renovation projects for both the Old University Union and the East Campus dormitory. Certainly, a significant amount of credit should be placed at the door of at least one E-Board member for saving the gym classes from permanent cancellation.
Most recently, in an act that could be legitimately called an attempt to weed out the weakest link, several SA members called for David Redbord, the vice president for multicultural affairs, to be impeached.
It is not for our editorial board to determine what Redbord’s intentions were when he read an e-mail from an Asian cultural group member out loud to a room full of Assembly members.
But we can determine that the office of the VPMA — which has stood on weak legs for over two years — has become even weaker with Redbord in office.
With at least six people standing in as the multicultural official over the past two years, it’s no wonder that the position has become both defunct and irrelevant. We hoped (as we said in our Sept. 27, 2007 editorial, “A VPMA of one’s own”) that Redbord would energize the VPMA office, but it is clear that he has done little more than extend programming.
That is not to say that the VPMA position should be eliminated; the office exists to encourage multicultural groups to become involved in the political process of the SA, and to create solidarity among voices which have not been heard in the past.
The office needs a steward who understands the broad definition of culture that could bring in more participants and erase the air of exclusivity that keeps so many students from feeling they have a vested interest in the VPMA’s office.
Without using it as a stepping stone to other, more illustrious positions, the VPMA should take the responsibility seriously and do more than assess the need for programming.
It is unfortunate that Redbord’s performance came to the brink of impeachment. Benefit can, however, come from this unfortunate display of SA bureaucracy. Should Redbord truly take the reigns in his two remaining months in office, we hope Maryam Belly (in our opinion, the better candidate in the runoff election for VPMA) takes the seat at his right so she can begin to put the office in order and decide how best to breathe new life into an impotent position.