More than 50 students showed up to SG’s Constitutional Convention in November, but only 12 were present at the beginning of the day on Saturday for the second part.
“I was disappointed this time and last time,” Student Body President Austin Shaw said of the turnout.
Vice President of Student Affairs Charles Brown expressed similar regrets. “I wish more students would have been involved in the process.” He said students had plenty of warning with notifications posted on MyFAU and sent out through email.
Brown still considers SG’s second Constitutional Convention a success because it has allowed students’ voices to come together, be heard, disagree and compromise. “The students should be very proud of this document,” he said. In the past, Brown has referred to SG’s current constitution as “probably one of the worst in the state.”
So why should students care? Brown says that every student “should participate in the political process” because SG represents all of the students.
At the first convention, SG leaders and students came up with the overall structure and organization of the new document. Over the break task forces, specific to different parts of the constitution, were formed to hammer out the details and the wording.
And the wording became a point of contention early in the day. Education major Jeff Clarke objected to the use of the word “parliament” to describe one of the new chambers of the legislature.
In November it was decided that each campus would have a house of representatives, and any university-wide issues would go before a senate made up of representatives from each campus.
But over the break some students wanted to keep the campus senates intact because of tradition. So the word “parliament” was decided upon because of its political meaning. It’s also a collective noun that describes a group of owls.
Whether the chamber is called a parliament, a senate or a flock, Shaw doesn’t know if the new document will clean things up in SG.
“Unfortunately, you will always have personalities,” he said. “If they refuse to compromise, and exist to oppose everyone, that’s a reality.”
A major revision of the document he says is “a step in the right direction.” He believes the new document will not allow SG leaders to “act as independently.”
Some of the revisions include:
Staggered Elections – The legislative branch would be elected in the fall and the executive branch would be elected in the spring. A fall legislative election would allow freshman to quickly get involved in SG and prevent one party from controlling everything.
Term Limits – The executive branch and their appointees would not be able to serve in any one position for more than two years. This will prevent students from never leaving office and allow more students to serve.
Chief Justice Appointment – The chief justice would be appointed to a two-year term instead of one. This is supposed to take the politics out of the judicial branch.
They’ve also included many safeguards to prevent some of the abuses of past SG administrations.
For instance SG has had a barely functional judicial branch in the past, rarely maintaining a full student court. One of the new provisions allows for the Vice President of Student Affairs to appoint a chief justice if SG fails to appoint one within thirty days of a vacancy.
The next step for the constitution is a set of town hall meetings that will take place between Jan. 22 and Feb. 7. The meetings will be held on each campus to allow for students to voice their questions and concerns. The new constitution is supposed to be posted on FAU’s website on Monday.
