Editorial: USAC correct in refusing nominees

The Undergraduate Students Association Council refused to
appoint four white students nominated by President David Dahle to
the judicial board on the grounds of a lack of diversity. They were
right to do so.

Dahle was wrong in not considering people of different
ethnicities or backgrounds. It shows he needs to work on keeping
these concerns a priority. Last year, many of the candidates
elected promised to keep issues relevant to underrepresented
communities in mind, and by rejecting Dahle’s appointments,
they’re living up to this promise.

This issue, though, extends beyond race to being inclusive of
the overall sentiment held by students who voted last spring. Dahle
won by less than 1 percent of the votes. If he wants to practice
what he preaches ““ that USAC should be inclusive of all
students ““ then he needs to make appointments more accurately
reflecting the division on campus and on council. The judicial
board, after all, decides on ambiguous constitutional questions
that usually come up when council makes important, controversial
decisions. Having the board politically lopsided is not in the
students’ best interest.

The various USAC boards should be as evenly split between the
SURE and Student Empowerment! slates as the council is. There are
already two members on the judicial board held over from last year;
so if the four students Dahle appointed would have been approved,
it would be noticeably uneven.

Anyone who knows USAC knows every member on the board has
political interests in mind when deciding on board composition
““ why else would Internal Vice President T.J. Cordero and
External Vice President Chris Neal vote against Dahle’s
appointees if they recommended them to council in the first place?
The bottom line, though, is almost half the voting student body
agrees with their slate, and a president who promised to be
inclusive cannot ignore that.

The two sides need to reach a compromise they can both live
with. Dahle should look to nominate someone of a different
ethnicity or background; if he does, Student Empowerment! cannot
continue denying his appointments without a stronger justification
than race.