Editorial: Attend State of the Student Body address


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Baylen Brown | Staff Photographer Charles Mahone, Detroit Senior Student Body President, speaks at the Board of Trustees Meeting, Wednesday evening, Sept. 16, upstairs in the Bovee University Center. Wednesday's meeting was the first Student Liaison meeting of the year. Baylen Brown | Staff Photographer

Student Government Association President Chuck Mahone announced he would give his first "State of the Student Body" address at 8 p.m. on Feb. 29 in the Powers Ballroom.

President George Ross declined to give a State of the University address this year. Instead, Ross opted to have a promotional pamphlet printed and then distributed around campus to update us on what CMU’s vision for the future is.

Now serving his second term as SGA President, Mahone has created a forum for all students to listen to his views and provide feedback.

Mahone told Central Michigan Life, he plans to talk about three topics: Student-city government relations, recent student deaths and college affordability.

Each of these topics is relevant, timely and important.

Community members and campus leaders need to take time out of their days to show up to his address. Students should also plan to attend.

Mahone invited Mount Pleasant mayor Kathy Ling. When she was elected, we urged Ling to engage CMU students and make them feel welcomed by local government. We hope to see her there. 

If you see the mayor at Mahone’s event, introduce yourself and tell her about your experiences with local government and law enforcement.

The purpose of attending this forum is supporting the man charged with representing your views to decision makers on your campus and in your community.

We appreciate Mahone’s recognition of the need for CMU students to take care of one another when they are socializing or enjoying downtown Mount Pleasant. Tragedy has become too common on and around this campus.

Mahone, like every CMU student, knows tuition is too expensive.

Students must shoulder the burden of the ballooning cost of higher education.

Things do not have to be this way.

We hope Mahone’s speech will make CMU’s SGA more visible to the campus and community. We urge students, faculty and staff to be an active participant in the conversation.

As SGA President, Mahone has a responsibly to make sure a collective student voice is represented to CMU’s administration and the local community.

Conversely, we students have a responsibility to make sure the voice of students on this campus is not exclusively that of Mahone.

If you have a question or a concern that you feel has not been adequately discussed bring it to the forum and ask it.

CMU decision makers often talk about how intensely focused they are on “student success.” Showing up to this address and engaging us in discussion with opinionated student leaders would go a long way toward convincing us of that.

Student leaders are more than willing to start a conversation about the issues that matter to us most.

Our sincere hope is that on the night of Mahone’s speech, campus and community decision makers are ready to listen.

Because just like Mahone, we have a lot to say.

 

 

 

 

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