The recent Undergraduate Student Government scandal, involving former President Romual Jean-Baptiste, has not just shook, but nearly eroded the foundation of politics at the campus level.

The USG today is a bleak remnant of what it was 20 years ago. Senate meetings were not spent looking at one’s watch every five minutes, or making origami artworks with the meeting agenda. Senators were punctual and effective. Setting and executing long and short term goals was their forte, not a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence. Most significantly elections were unadulterated by personal greed and gain.

But there is no point in dwelling on the past. What is crucial at this moment is to burst light into the dark clouds enshrouding the senate right now. The job is now that of the new President, who must not only bring back the glorious and politically proactive days of the past, but also bring back the lost respect and importance of the seat of the President.

What the senate must now also realize is that its power will only grow when it begins to work and succeed as a team. As traditionally assumed, it is not simply the responsibility of a sole individual, the President. Rather, meetings must now flourish with new talent and new power to harden the foundation and cultivate student activism. After all, who doesn’t love a good comeback?