Student government is an oxymoron.
Students don't govern. A student body's elected leaders get an activities budget, and they decide how to spend it. The rest is just theater. Or practice.
But while its outcomes are largely irrelevant, student government matters, if only because it's a proving ground for future political elites.
Richard Nixon was the student body president at Whittier College. Karl Rove served two terms as council president at a high school in a Salt Lake City suburb. As a fraternity brother with permed hair, Sam Brownback led Kansas State University's student government.
Hillary Clinton was the president of her senior class at Wellesley College, while Bill Clinton lost an equivalent election at Georgetown University.
Our political systems are dominated by people who pursued elected office and its trappings at young ages. And those systems don't operate very well, in part because many of the decision makers don't seem to be able to feel emotions, such as humility and regret, that keep most of us grounded. Indeed, to watch the process is to wonder whether student government, where so many of our leaders get their start, is less a laboratory for democracy than a finishing school for narcissists.
This column will describe events related to the University of Missouri-Kansas City's student government. An effort will be made to keep the "governing" details to a minimum because, well, who cares. While the shenanigans may appear trivial, it's worth remembering that today's student-government leader makes tomorrow's decisions about war and health care.
Three years ago, the Student Government Association at UMKC appointed Bridgett Johnson, an ambitious undergraduate studying political science, its election director.
Johnson's term ended prematurely. Some members of the student government thought that Johnson had a conflict of interest because, as election director, she had circulated a petition on behalf of the debate and mock-trial teams, to which she also belonged.
After her term as election director ended, Johnson felt that she was owed an additional $1,000 for her work. The Student Government Association declined to pay. So Johnson petitioned a student-run court that operates on campus.
Tim Collins, an undergrad with an interest in law, agreed to represent Johnson. Johnson and Collins agreed that Collins would receive 20 percent of whatever Johnson was able to recover.
On February 25, 2008, the student court determined that Johnson was entitled to $500. A week later, Collins sent Johnson an e-mail asking for his cut. "I will pay you as soon as I get the money from SGA," Johnson wrote in a reply.
A junior at the time, Johnson was campaigning to become the next president of the SGA. The elections were scheduled for April.
University records indicate that in mid-March, Johnson received the $500 that the court awarded her. But Collins didn't collect his share. So, in April, he sued Johnson in small-claims court.
He also scrambled to file the paperwork to enter the SGA president's race. Collins says he decided to run in large part because he didn't trust Johnson.
Johnson won the election. She also beat Collins in small-claims court, presenting evidence that she had not received the $500. The evidence was a letter signed by Mel Tyler, vice chancellor for student affairs. Dated April 14, 2009, the letter stated that the student court's ruling had been overturned "after further review of her responsibilities by the office of Student Affairs." Jackson County Judge Gregory Gillis conducted a trial on April 17, 2009, and ruled for Johnson.
Collins, now a law student at UMKC, says the letter is a forgery. He obtained a copy of the university voucher initiating the $500 payment to Johnson. The voucher's comment box cites her work as election director and the February 25 ruling by the student court.
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It's important to realize that, if a school that has lost its way doesn't reform itself, if victims don't secure justice, no matter how long after they were victimized, that school will continue to produce graduates who continue to lie and cheat in their careers. Whittier College has never reformed itself and it has, since graduating Dick Nixon, continued to produce scandal after scandal, both on campus and through its post-Nixon graduates, numerous of which scandals and individuals are detailed at http://www.whittiergate.com. Reform must follow revelation and justice must prevail, again, no matter how late in the day, or we'll all be liable to suffer the consequences of that school's continuing failure.
It's important to realize that, if a school that has lost its way doesn't reform itself, if victims don't secure justice, no matter how long after they were victimized, that school will continue to produce graduates who continue to lie and cheat in their careers. Whittier College has never reformed itself and it has, since graduating Dick Nixon, continued to produce scandal after scandal, both on campus and through its post-Nixon graduates, numerous of which scandals and individuals are detailed at http://www.whittiergate.com. Reform must follow revelation and justice must prevail, again, no matter how late in the day, or we'll all be liable to suffer the consequences of that school's continuing failure.
It sounds like Miss Johnson has a bright future in republican politics. They're the party of liars, hypocrites, and thieves so she's already proven that she's one of them.
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