Current SBA Reps Encourage Students to Vote YES on Transfer Student Enfranchisement
On Wednesday, February 22, we will have the opportunity to vote on a ballot initiative that will amend the SBA Constitution to create a Transfer Student Senate seat, elected in the fall by the 2L transfer class. As members of the SBA, we strongly urge you to vote YES.
It is estimated that over one-hundred 2L transfer students enroll at GW Law every fall. That’s over one hundred students who do not have the chance to vote for an elected representative in the SBA Senate until the spring of their 2L year (when they vote for their 3L Senators). That’s over one hundred students who effectively have no voice in our student government.
But transfer student enfranchisement is not just a numbers game – it is simply the right thing to do. All members of the GW Law student body deserve an elected representative in the SBA Senate. Allowing transfer students to elect a representative creates political accountability and serves an important function in our community. Much like evening students, transfer students face a unique set of challenges and would benefit greatly from having an elected leader among them who can advocate on their behalf and help disseminate important information as they learn the ropes of GW Law. And we, as an SBA, would also benefit from hearing the input of transfer students.
Do you remember being baby-stepped through the process of using the portal and downloading exam software? Who told you about grades, printing, room reservations, and the outline bank? The truth is that 2L transfer students miss out on many of the GW 1L learning experiences that most of us take for granted. But for a short orientation in August, during which they are bombarded with information, transfer students rarely enjoy another opportunity to unite. They are immersed into the world of GW Law, a new environment, separated into dozens of classes, and left to find things out on their own, their collective voice muted. They are our classmates, and our friends, and they deserve better.
On Wednesday, February 22, vote YES on transfer student enfranchisement; your vote will help make the GW Law community even better and stronger.
The undersigned.
Nick Nikic (President), Lenny Rubin (Executive Vice President), Shirley Liang (Vice President of Finance), Mike Lueptow (Deputy Chief of Staff)
Senators: Dean Aynechi, Lauren Brinker, Juan Garcia-Pardo, Brad Ham, Giri Iyengar, Janet Kang, Robert Russo, Justin Scheiniger, Jackie Stanley, Sam Stone, AJ Sutton, Holly Trogdon, Michael Williams, and Adam Zavadil
