ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As our campus geared up for Associated Student Government elections, I was right where I wanted to be: a different time zone.
Back home, eight self-selected Northwestern leaders were beating pavement, trolling for endorsements and extolling the greatness of our school. But I’ve spent four years here and never been convinced that NU is the ultimate college. So I put us on trial and sought evidence for the prosecution.
The University of Michigan makes a good Exhibit A. It’s elite, it’s Big Ten, and it shares our sub-arctic six month winters. Coffee shops and North Face jackets bloom like dandelions, and the student body is rich, gangly and hair-gelled to perfection. They have about three times as many undergraduates as NU but mirror us in most every other way.
And they don’t care about student government at all.
“The turnout in our elections is very low, around 10 percent,” said Ruben Duran, a senior who served in the student government and edited the Michigan Review newspaper. “It’s gotten lower every year I’ve been here.”
Michigan finished its elections two weeks ago, and disinterest still hangs in the air. The students I talked to don’t remember much campaigning apart from what they read in The Michigan Daily. They don’t really recall who won. And that’s all right by new Michigan Student Assembly President Jason Mironov.
“There’s a good community here, and I wouldn’t say it’s good to step on the community’s toes,” he said. “Our role is to stand up for students who are outnumbered and not able to stand up for themselves.”
Of course that’s not how our student government thinks.
In the last four elections, with about half of us voting, candidates have bucked up their pledges for ethno-centric minors or students on the board of trustees by pledging to bring us together. Seven years ago Yetu Robinson promised a spirit of “NUnity.” Now Jane Lee wants “to foster new community-building events, reinstate older traditions and expand current traditions.”
Obviously this is never going to happen. I’m not sure why so many NU students cast ballots to encourage it.
In Ann Arbor community comes from randomness. Three meat-market nightclubs sit a few blocks from campus. Six bars are staggered across the city with managers who have disparate philosophies on carding. Graduate students engage in impromptu ragtime jams outside their co-ops. All of this eased me into the mix during my short time on their campus. None of it was planned by student government.
At the same time, the campus hosts slightly fewer than 400 student groups, housed in two huge university centers. Groups like the Gilbert & Sullivan Society and Broomball Club have offices and budgets their student government doesn’t touch. Meanwhile ASG annexes Norris’ limited space and tries to fill in the ground floor with a bar.
It’s an ego blow to take lessons from the Wolverines. But they’ve got their priorities straight. Our community is too important to be left to ASG.
David Weigel is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].
