Leaders’ disinterest begets students’ disinterest

Two weeks ago, The Eagle ran an editorial, “Leadership aspirations are dormant at CSC,” composed in 1962 by the then editors of the newspaper.

With only a few miniscule changes, the editorial read as if it had been written recently concerning current events on campus.

The article states, “It appears that the majority of the college’s students are so complacent that they are not outwardly concerned with the student governing body of their college.”

Perhaps it is merely this college’s fate to see generation after generation of students who are simply trying to get a degree without incident and move on into the career world.

Superficially, the student body’s disinterest in leadership and its leaders may seem harmless, but this is a dangerous apathy. The weekly Student Senate meeting sees an average guest attendance of zero.

Other than a reporter sent by The Eagle, the only attendees are representatives from clubs seeking official sanction.

When a few students control a large amount of money that has come out of the student body’s pockets, there should be more active interest and oversight from those who that money is supposed to benefit.

The most shocking news to come out of CSC’s campus this week was, on the surface, really not a big deal. It was a report of silence.

“[Ashley Maxon, senate treasurer,] asked for a volunteer to step in and chair the committee. No response came from the floor, and after about a minute of silence, Maxon sat down,” this week’s Senate report, on Page 2, states.

Who holds the chair of a single committee is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But when not one senator is active and interested enough to chair a committee that meets infrequently, it calls into question why we even have a Student Senate.

Previous Senate executive boards might have assigned the committee chair to a senator, but this board remained as silent as the senators on the floor.

Student Senators should be active and enthusiastic members of the student body. If most of our senators lead with an uninspiring example, it’s likely they’re only interested in having another point for their resumes. It’s no surprising more students don’t care enough to get more involved.