Friday’s USG elections were a landslide for The After Party, with Adil Hussain becoming the new president. It wasn’t surprising that he won after his party had a huge campaign across campus, and the unpopularity of the incumbent candidate, Anna Lubitz. Though Yiufat Lam also worked hard on his campaign, he lacked a larger named party to stand with.
Though I am happy to see change in the positions of the student government, based off the campaign that The After Party ran on, I have my reservations.
It was a brilliant marketing campaign on all aspects. The party used Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and posters to spread their names. It built a brand that everyone could recognize when they went to vote. But the problem with most of the candidates was that no one focused on his/her platform. What does Hussain stand for?
His rebellious nature is exciting, fresh, and much-needed for most students after what they saw as a bad year for USG. But will he deliver on his promises of transparency, a student-first mentality, and, most of all, fostering a new relationship between the student body and administration?
This election has brought up larger issues at this University. Students hate elections apparently. Please correct me if I’m wrong on this statement, but with 14,000 undergraduates, only 2,162 votes were cast for USG President. Many students had complaints against Lubitz for not properly representing the student body, yet no one was willing to do anything. No one complained during the year she was in office. Even during elections, only 2,162 students even cared to cast a vote for the person who would be in charge of overseeing distribution of money to clubs, activities, and other campus events. USG plays a huge role in building a campus life, yet many are okay with settling on just blaming the government, when really, the student body has the say in what happens.
With the fee continually going up for our student activity fee, the platform of a candidate is important in determining how the money will be spent. As we saw with Lubitz and her connections, it made her relationship with the students fairly cold. This isn’t saying Hussain will be the complete opposite, as his campaign has raised eyebrows in administration. Hussain may be the polar opposite of Lubitz, but because of that he could have a problem all year passing through ideas only to be shut down with an unreceptive administration.
The After Party made a video before elections on “slam dancing”, stating it was the reason Kendrick Lamar and Steve Aoki weren’t able to perform on campus. As creative as the video was, it was a little disturbing. Even the name of the party, gives off the impression that a large portion of the campus cares more about their social and party life, more than anything. While this is a huge assumption, I’m sure it’s a safe bet to say administration will have its work cut out the next year.
