Student Government doesn't matter.
About 50,000 students are enrolled at UF, and in a good year, only about 8,000 of them vote. Therefore, SG must not matter, right? Except that's not the whole story. Students don't vote because the system is flawed. UF uses paper ballots and the machines that scan them were cutting edge when Ferris Bueller took his day off. Loyalty - nay, obedience - is rewarded over competence, blind faith over intellectual honesty. Why should voters care to participate in a system so broken?
SG cannot fix itself. It will not. Not alone. Some disclosure: I've never held a position within SG. How can I be qualified, you ask? Because I never sold out. I was happy to exist outside of SG. I've made it a habit to find organizations in need of reform and making it happen. In spring 2005, I was elected the College Republican State Chairman of Florida. As part of that job, I sat on the Board of the College Republican National Committee. This is the organization that saw Jack Abramoff work in his early days. Countless others and no less-infamous back-room dealers passed through the halls of the CRNC. I walked into the middle of a fundraising-fraud scandal that claimed millions of dollars from unsuspecting elderly donors. After two years of hard work and truth-telling, the CRNC is now reformed both from within and without. I'm proud of that record and intend to repeat it. Likewise, I realize reforms must also take place within for any real, long-term change. As a gay Republican, I know I face an uphill battle struggling to let others within my own party realize the error of their ways. That doesn't mean I have to quit and walk away.
Engagement, activism and truth are the best weapons to fight ignorance.SG refuses to allow online voting, not over fears of coercion or voter secrecy, but because of fears of transparency and accountability. SG cannot defend Bright Futures because it doesn't represent students. It represents its resumes. SG can't defend free speech on campus because it's the first one to abuse it. So few students vote in SG elections because the options presented to them in the past have been so mediocre. Orange and Blue presents a bold change. Positions will not go to legacies, but talents. Senate will not speak to students, but will speak for students. Orange and Blue knows students depend on free printing, and we want it all over campus. We know how frustrating it is checking UF Webmail, so why keep it one day longer and not switch to Gmail?
I've done nothing but fight for honesty and integrity in a system that has forgotten what that means. Students have a student government to represent them and fight for them. That's why I'm running for Student Body president. SG matters to all students and belongs to all Gators. It's time we take it back.
Tommy Jardon is the Student Body presidential candidate for the Orange and Blue Party.
