Staff Editorial | Students should have direct say in ViCE elections

Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE) has revised their constitution significantly. One of the major changes in the new governing document is that the positions of ViCE CEO and treasurer will no longer be elected by the entire student body and will instead be decided internally, with the current ViCE Executive Board electing the following year’s Board.

The new ViCE constitution also expands the Board to include representatives from ViCE subsidiaries, such as ViCE Jazz, After Hours, and the Film League. In addition, new committees will address musical events, non-musical events, and publicity. The constitution also provides formal way for other VSA organizations to solicit ViCE for monetary support for programming.

Presented as a restructuring of ViCE with the intent to lead to a more efficient and productive organization, the intention behind these changes is solid. Organizations should constantly reassess and seek to improve in order to better fulfill their mission statement. However, the content of these changes ought to be examined. The Miscellany News disagrees with ViCE’s decision to disempower the student body by taking away the direct, general election of ViCE CEO and treasurer.

ViCE has the largest budget of any VSA organization. Their purpose, according to their constitution, is “to plan and execute a diverse array of interesting events for the entire student body throughout the school year.” The leadership of ViCE should be directly accountable to students because their primary purpose is to serve the general student body.

If ViCE’s events are geared towards serving students, then students should have say in ViCE elections. Although the greater involvement of the ViCE general body in ViCE committees will last throughout the year, it is nonetheless imperative for all students to have a direct voice on election day.

ViCE’s concern about general elections for top positions is legitimate. It is important to have a ViCE CEO and Treasurer that are prepared to take on the large amount of responsibility these positions require. Rather than cutting students out of the process entirely, the format of ViCE elections could be modified. A requirement of previous experience should be implemented, so that candidates for these top posts would have to establish their commitment to and experience with ViCE. Since ViCE CEO and treasurer handle such a large amount of VSA-budgeted money, these candidates should participate in school-wide, publicized debates, just as candidates for VSA executive board do every year. If ViCE adopted these two stipulations instead of shifting to internal elections, Vassar students would be informed voters and ViCE would assuredly have someone with previous experience elected to the positions.

Although other VSA organizations, including The Miscellany News, elect their officers internally, ViCE is fundamentally different. With its huge budget and its campus-based mission, ViCE is supposed to serve the interests of all students, not just those who attend ViCE general body meetings.
As the school year nears completion, elections for all organizations and the VSA Council are on the horizon. The requirement of previous experience could be applied to VSA elections for all executive board positions as well. Currently, no position on the VSA Executive Board requires prior experience on Council.

ViCE’s changes to their constitution are laudable in their attempt to restructure and ultimately operate more efficiently. But general elections for the top positions provide an opportunity of “checks and balances” for students, and the opportunity to have an active say in the leaders of student organizations by voting should not be compromised.

The staff editorial represent a two-thirds majority opinion of the Editorial Board.