Students empowered to elect CSL leaders
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 8:08PM Claire Byun
buync@mytjnow.com
Winthrop students will participate in the first democratic election in 10 years this semester.
President and vice president positions for CSL are open for election by the student body. This is the first time a democratic election has been held since the dissolve of Winthrop’s previous student government, nearly a decade ago.
The Winthrop Student Government Association (SGA) was dissolved in November 2001, due to a lack of student interest and participation. An ad hoc committee, now known as the Council of Student Leaders (CSL), was formed at the request of Frank Ardaiolo, vice president for student life.
CSL was created to fulfill SGA’s responsibilities, and in Nov. 2002, Winthrop’s Board of Trustees recognized CSL as the official vehicle of student governance.
When first formed, CSL was composed of the nine students left over from SGA, as well as then-current leaders of the Resident Students’ Association, Dinkins Student Union, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council and the National Pan-Hallenic Council.
Dissenting opinion on student government came to the surface during Feb. 2010, according to a Feb. 2010 issue of The Johnsonian.
Current student Devang Joshi, who was a junior at the time, created a Facebook group. The group, called “A Real Voice for the Students,” united other Winthrop students who had an issue with CSL’s structure.
Members of the group attended CSL meetings, and both sides were open to discussion. Sydney Evans, then and current chair of CSL, suggested a democratic election for president and vice president, while keeping a bicameral legislature for the rest of CSL.
Joshi’s Facebook group evolved into the Winthrop Student Congress, a group petitioning membership in CSL.
During her re-election as CSL chair, Evans said her goal was to erect some kind of election commission by the time she leaves office, according to an April 2010 edition of The Johnsonian.
On the same night of her re-election, the Winthrop Student Congress was chartered by CSL during a weekly meeting in April.
Group members said they did not want to work against CSL, but wanted cooperation to benefit Winthrop as a whole.
Nearly two semesters later, Evans and other proponents of a student election are meeting their goals.
The new democratic elections are open to all students, with three presidential candidates and one vice presidential candidate to choose from. Voting will take place March 31 and April 1, via an online system.
Visit winthrop.edu/csl for more informatin on the candidates and to vote.
