Re-Constructing Opportunities for Students?
Analysis by N.S. Garcia
The Metropolitan
 Danny
Holland / The Metropolitan
At the Nov. 16 Election Commission meeting, Safford, far left, listens
as Gill, far right, speaks about the proposed SGA constitution.
Once upon a time,
in the land of Auraria, in the state of Metro, students came together
and selected a group of peers to represent them.
They called themselves Constructing Opportunities for Students and they
would repair the damages done by student governments of the past.
And by all rights, they were brave knights, led by a princess, with the
sole mission of saving students from the torment of student fees and a
never-ending dynasty of interim rulers.
All seemed well. A battle-plan was drawn up in a fort outside of Nederland.
Under the counsel of a senior wizard, the brave princess led her troops
into battle in August. Progress was being made, the town was being rebuilt
and the tyranny of the rulers was being questioned.
Just when it seemed as if nothing could stop them, something happened.
The one-for-all mentality disappeared. Fighting within the ranks began
and continues to this day.
On Nov. 18, the clan will meet with another wizard to try and regain
the strength they once had in order to finish their job for the students.
GHOSTS
To say there have been problems with Metro’s SGAs would be an understatement.
In the spring of 2003, then-SGA President Brotha Seku was suspended from
Metro until the fall of 2004.
Seku was found guilty of verbal abuse, intimidation, failure to comply
with directions of college officials and abuse of the college judicial
system.
In October of 2003, Seku’s successor, Felicia Woodson, was removed
from office after an SGA member filed a complaint saying she violated
her job description and failed to live up to her duties.
GO TEAM!
In the spring of 2004, there were two parties - COS and Positive Action
Coalition. Both wanted their members elected to the SGA.
In the end, COS won every office. The first time ever in Metro’s
history. Never before had one party won all 12 seats.
1,045 students voted, just 5.9 percent of the entire student body.
“I’m really excited it was a clean sweep,” Candice
Gill, SGA’s president said in the April 29 issue of The Metropolitan.
“We’ve all been working together since January, so I feel
like we’ve had an opportunity to build a team and get to know one
another.”
COS said they would be focusing on student fees and having better communication
with the students and administration. Amending the constitution was also
a goal.
One thing they never thought they’d have to deal with is internal
communication problems.
“I want to create a liaison between the student government and
the administration,” Gill said during a debate with other presidential
candidates.
One thing that has never been a question is how diverse the elected officers
were.
Some are old, some are young. Some are Democrats, some are Republicans.
Some were born in America, some were not. Some have a lawsuit pending
with the school, some do not.
“The individuals elected have different leadership qualities, and
I think we would be able to bring that together and mobilize ourselves
for the students,” Gill said at the April 31, SGA inauguration.
 Danny
Holland / The Metropolitan
SGA Attorney General Will Safford, left, and President Candace Gill at an SGA meeting earlier this semester.
In the late summer it seemed the SGA would conquer the demons and bring
forth a new hope to Metro.
A $5,000 LESSON
Nestled in the mountains near Nederland, the SGA came together under the
direction of Butch Oxendine, executive director of the American Student
Government Association.
It cost the SGA $5,000 to fly Oxendine out for the weekend. Sure it was
costly, but the SGA argued it was worth it. After all, Metro was the first
college in Colorado to join ASGA.
From Aug. 6 – 8 they discussed and worked on issues from representing
the student body to the relationship between the SGA and the Metro administration.
School hadn’t even started and there was already a glitch in the
ride to paradise.
The SGA Vice President of Communications Russ Tonn had left his office,
citing personal reasons. In his place, Beth Ott, the campaign manager
for COS was appointed. Ott is married to Will Safford, the SGA’s
Attorney General.
New member aside, the SGA was ready to buck the trend of defunct SGAs,
or so it seemed.
THEY MAY HAVE WON THE BATTLE…
The first big victory came on Sept. 30. Gill announced that after a month
of talks and e-mails Interim Vice President of Student Services Karen
Raforth wrote her saying the administration was interested in talking
about autonomy.
“An effective relationship between SGA and the college administration
is important and the administration as well as the Cabinet is committed
to such a relationship,” Raforth wrote.
Every SGA member smiled as Gill discussed the letter. They were instructed
to meet with Yolanda Ortega-Ericksen, interim associate vice president
of student services.
She’s usually the only one who attends the SGA meetings besides
the executive committee and the news media. To say the least, she is an
ally, willing to work more in favor of the SGA than any other administrator.
More battles were won.
Vice President for Student Fees Brian Glotzbach was working on providing
the best deal for students’ money. Vice President for Academic Affairs
Jessica Greiner was working with the administration and the deans of the
schools. Vice President for Administration and Finance Dennis Bergquist
was working on the SGA budget. Vice President for Communications Beth
Ott was spreading the word about the good things SGA was doing. Vice President
for Diversity Marziya Kaka was working on improving student orientation.
Vice President for Student Organizations Clara Ordonez was improving the
Club Hub.
The list goes on. All the SGA members were busy. Each doing what they
needed to do to make the school better. And they’ll each tell you
that. 13 different SGA members went 13 directions, with one common goal:
the students.
PARTY POLITICS
No one really knows when it happened. Some things just changed.
Maybe it was former Auraria College Republican Chairman George Culpepper’s
complaint against Safford and Ott.
Culpepper claimed the two, who are also a part of Native American Students
for Un-American Activities, knew of a possible death threat against his
life.
Safford fired right back, filing a complaint saying Culpepper had slandered
himself and Ott.
Both complaints were later dropped, but the effects still linger today.
The complaint seemed to pit SGA member against SGA member.
Both Glotzbach and Bergquist are associated with the ACR. And Culpepper’s
name is synonymous with the organization. Glotzbach was the former chairman
of ACR and Berguist has been a member. Both have associations with Culpepper.
While no one is saying Glotzbach and Bergquist are accusing Safford and
Ott, a line was drawn in the dirt between SGA and party politics.
Maybe it was the polarized national election. Again, Glotzbach and Bergquist
are vocal Republicans. Safford and Ott are vocal Democrats.
Maybe it was the proposed constitution. Later in the semester, the SGA
tackled its most daunting task: re-writing the constitution. The prior
SGA started but didn’t finish. Gill and Co., come hell or high water,
was determined to accomplish this unfinished business. After weeks of
writing and rewriting, debates and more debates, the constitution committee
had proposed a titled version 4.0.
Safford had strong words about the constitution. His main complaint was
the senate. If the new constitution is passed, a legislative branch will
be formed. But nowhere in the 19-page document does it specifically say
how the senators will represent the student body.
Even after that meeting, more debates and rewrites took place. For an
entire week in October, Gill, Berguist, Glotzbach and Safford met at 7
a.m. to hash out the problems. In the end Safford wasn’t pleased
and version 4.0 was passed 5-0-2 by the executive committee. Ott and Greiner
did not attend that meeting.
The attorney general says he will campaign against the document and fears
if it is passed the SGA will have more power over the students. Despite
all pleas from his fellow members to remain silent, Safford has decided
to voice his opinion about the document.
“I don’t work for Candice. I don’t work for the executive
committee,” Safford said. “I’m not their lackey, I’m
not their mouth piece. I am an elected official, I don’t work for
them, I work for the students.”
Or maybe conflict was inevitable. The 13 type-A personalities. The diverse
background. The committee style. Could these all be mere excuses?
RETREAT!
At the Oct. 28 meeting, Associate Director of Student Life Zav Dadabhoy
approached the executive committee and suggested a retreat. He said, before
the situation gets worse, the SGA needs to reevaluate their mission and
personal conflicts. He offered to host the retreat, but because of scheduling
conflicts a retreat wasn’t possible.
“I thought it was important for the student government, at this
stage to refocus on their vision,” Dadabhoy said. “They have
to commit and try to solve their problems for the students.”
Dadabhoy said conflict was inevitable because of the group size. He said
he’s seen countless SGA’s fight amongst themselves, sometimes
without resolving their conflicts.
Dadabhoy has been at Metro for 10 years and said, “The majority
of SGAs have become embroiled in tense conflict at some stage or the other,
this is no different.”
So the SGA decided to take part in mediation. Larry Lopez, an associate
professor and a trained mediator, will participate.
He said he could not comment on the mediation.
Reasons aside, the SGA is in serious trouble. As they head into mediation,
new e-mails are circulating within the SGA. Personal disputes have moved
into the digital world – hate e-mail. Nothing is new here, according
to SGA members, harsh e-mails have been sent out since October.
“I will not wait any longer,” writes Glotzbach. “I
have been silent long enough, and will not wait until Thursday to continue
to let members of this group destroy what we had worked so hard to attempt
to build.”
Glotzbach wrote an e-mail to Safford about the Web site he and Ott created
for a petition they started. The petition asks students to support a pro-diversity
campus. The petition also names Culpepper and the ACR as being racist.
“I’m frustrated that it has come to this point, but I will
not stand down and allow you to run over the rest of the SGA,” Gltozbach
continued in his e-mail, which was forwarded to the entire SGA.
All members of the SGA are optimistic about the session. They all think
they can come out stronger than ever.
However, one problem seems to be the difference in opinion about what
seems to be the best outcome. While most members see a united SGA as the
best, others are more realistic and believe the committee needs to learn
to disagree.
In the end, one question remains, can the SGA agree to disagree?
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