Moving Student Government Beyond Campus Boundaries

Student government elections often mean new routes to class to avoid the heavy traffic corridors on campus that are even further clogged with signage and people promoting candidates for the various positions. As staff members, we are tasked with ensuring rules are followed, students are informed, and voting processes are smooth and without controversy.

However, what do we do when our students expand their platforms beyond the campus and into local, state, or national politics? Political parties are not an unknown to our student governments, such as at the University of Florida, nor are votes of support for or dissent against bills and measures in local and state governments. But do we want our students to focus only on campus issues? Or should they include local, state, and national issues in their campaigns that are of interest to or may affect students?

One such example is Amendment 1 in North Carolina, which if passed, would prohibit same-sex marriage and civil unions and could have negative effects on domestic partnerships and partner benefits, even for heterosexual couples. A Duke University student brought his opposition to Amendment 1 to his recent student government election.

Does your student government actively engage in local, state, or national politics? How does this engagement influence policies and procedures regarding student governments? Should student governments focus on campus issues solely, or are those issues far too intertwined with external politics that it is necessary for them to engage in these higher levels of government?