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As many of you may or may not know, I was part of the Student Government Association (SGA) for about three years before I lost the SGA Presidential election against incumbent Rezwan Rifat. Why I decided to run against an incumbent is something I will get into later in this article, however it does play a key role in what I am about to talk about, which is how SGA has failed in its roles on campus, and why it will struggle to rebuild itself when a new president takes over.
For many years now, SGA has assumed several roles on campus, with the two predominant roles being Student Organization approvals and student advocacy. Yes, SGA is technically a student advocacy group as it is supposed to advocate for all student’s interests through open letters and legislation. It also did this when it would help set up President Student Advisory Council (PSAC) meetings, which were held regularly up until a few months after President Raj Echambadi came into office as Illinois Tech’s president. There were more PSAC meetings after those few months but were slashed during the second semester of Rifat’s first term. That is when my opinion of SGA’s leadership began to decline, and why I was encouraged by several members in SGA to run for president of SGA.
While SGA itself had been facing a decline for many years after the initial wave of the pandemic, this was amplified by previous SGA presidents lack of accountability and dictator-like power struggles. This era was only briefly paused by the reforms made during the Isaiah Mays term from 2022-2023, which was one of the biggest factors in SGA starting to become a mild success during that time. President Mays along with several VP’s during that time were single handedly responsible for reactivating PSAC after the pandemic, utilizing SGA to advocate for students through those meetings, through open letters, and through reforms like the introduction of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) seats in SGA’s voting membership. For the better, Mays led an SGA filled with progress and ambition, which was cut too short.
When Mays declined to run for a second term, his spot was up for grabs, and Rifat was among those who decided to run. His prior experience in SGA was non-existent as he had never been a voting member, had only attended about 3 meetings before deciding to run, but he had massive backing from several groups on campus. Whether or not those groups have received benefits from his presidency is beyond me. What I do know is that while I was supporting candidate Joseph Shamaon, who had a very promising campaign based around an interest in increasing student participation in campus events and for some reason moving the Galvin tower, Rifat had been gathering support from others around campus that could guarantee him a vote using his connections. Overall, his strategy worked, and Rifat won his first Presidency despite being objectively under qualified and not favored among those already in student government.
His first term was rocky and was not what I imagine he wanted. In my experience, he was average in his leadership, but a decent person. I would have considered him a good friend as he was a good person, meaning the best. The downfall started incredibly early on though when he decided to start bending his knee towards the university administration all too easily. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) were hoping Rifat would help them achieve their goal of getting the Palestinian flag up in Hermann Hall. Yet during the first meeting he and the of the executive board, including myself, had with president Echambadi, when the topic came up and the president denied the request, it was never spoken about again. It was never a topic of the board’s discussion, nor was he even willing push it further. This is something that shocked me, even though Rifat never made promises during his campaign, he had spoken about his support for SJP’s movement. To see someone who was in such a position in SGA bend a knee so easily for a movement we all thought he believed in, some of us were genuinely afraid to see what else he would not do.
His first term ended as it started, filled with controversy. Senators in SGA were angry not just with the executive board but particularly with Rifat’s lack of leadership and integrity. For a while after my loss, I felt upset, livid, and most of all afraid of what was to come. I still remember when senators had offered their consolation during my first loss, and Shamaon’s second loss. Words I will always remember from a senator who was one of my strongest supporters is “How did you not win? You did everything right, took every precaution, and was the strongest candidate who cared about people. How did you not win?” He was clearly frustrated about my loss, but more so about Rifat’s second win.
To many in SGA at the time, he was still under qualified, did not show much leadership, and was extremely inactive in most senate meetings. There were a variety of times where Derrick Hill or I had to take on his role as a leading voice because he was either late or did not know how to address the topic of discussion. Rifat’s second term was worse than his first with SGA being silent to the student body. Not one thing has been heard from SGA about senate meetings. A Chief Justice and Vice President of Residence Life (a position Na’im Muhammad rebuilt from the ground up to be the most productive part of SGA ever) has yet to be chosen, and meetings are no longer streamed, announced, or even put on calendars. This past term has been filled with violations of the SGA constitution, something that has now been seen as a typical action of the current SGA administration. Rifat has been silent through all this and whether directly or not, is complicit in these violations, which have changed the way students see SGA.
Fizz has been the preferred method of campus communication for about a year now, and the several hundred users who exist on the application are indeed not happy with SGA’s performance. Sometimes, I see calls for resignation, criticism, and even polls asking if SGA should be shuddered. One thing is for certain though, the current executive board in SGA with the leadership of Rifat has proven to be one of the least accountable administrations in SGA’s recent history. This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of many, and a little bit of fact. This comes in the form of lack of meeting videos being released, finance board policies being changed without a formal vote (that we know of), no senate reports being shown, or the fact that the SGA website has not been updated, as evidenced by certain former members of SGA still present on the website.
So, with this being laid out for you step by step, angle by angle, I write to you my dear reader one last paragraph about the upcoming SGA executive election cycle. This is a word of caution against electing those who give no promises, who allow everyone to do as they please, who bends a knee to those they should not, and who runs a government akin to a regular student organization. SGA is not a regular student organization and should not be treated as such. It is a governing and advocating body that should be as transparent as possible. It can make profound change to our campus under the right leadership. SGA has made profound change before, and I believe it can do it again under the right leadership. So, when you vote for the next president of SGA, vote for someone who can give a damn about you. Vote for someone who will stand up for you and your movements. Vote for someone who can lead a student government forward. SGA and this campus deserved better these past two years, and if you are thinking what I am thinking, then make sure to vote for the right person later this semester.
“Those who cannot remember their past, are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana
