“They Have Our Voice” | Students on the Role of Student Government

Most colleges and universities have an organized body that serves to give students a voice and to provide certain programming, resources, and services. At the University of Guelph, this is the Central Student Association (CSA), which “represent[s] and amplif[ies] the voice of undergraduate students at the University of Guelph,” the CSA states on their webpage.

The CSA is made of elected representatives and provides a variety of services, including Student Bus Pass Distribution, Guelph Student FoodBank, and The Bullring. We set out to ask the student body how they feel about the CSA and how they feel about how students were engaged.

Jessica, a student studying Criminal Justice and Public Policy, had nothing but praise for the CSA.

“They have our voice,” Jessica said. “They do a lot of small things for us that people don’t really notice but it makes a difference.”

Many students don’t even realize the services they are taking advantage of were provided by the CSA, as U of G student Shyanne pointed out.

“I didn’t even realize that the feminine products” — referring to the Menstrual Hygiene Initiative, which makes menstrual products available for free across campus — “were because of them,” Shyanne said, “which I really appreciate because feminine hygiene is very important.”

Software Engineering student Jason appreciates the services they provide for the students during stressful times in the school year.

“They provide free events. In December they provided breakfast for students feeling the exam stress,” Jason said.

Unfortunately, it’s not all positive, as some students feel that they could be doing more to encourage the students to be involved.

“The student government at our school doesn’t engage us too effectively,” Criminology student Shawn told The Ontarion.

“The choices don’t come from the students as a whole,” Shawn continued, “they come from the students elected.”

The CSA has an election nomination period beginning on Jan. 17, with the election process starting on Feb. 10 and ending on Feb. 14. As we reported in 2018, roughly 14 per cent of the student electorate cast their ballot that year. If there was ever a time to get engaged, now would be it.

Photos by Alex Vialette

I know why you didn’t vote in the CSA elections — but why didn’t you run?

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