I am shocked and disappointed by Student Association’s decision to stand by the administration’s undemocratic and flawed commencement speaker selection process. SA should advocate for student participation in important university decisions to the highest degree possible.

The entire graduating class was not given a voice; the students were not allowed to vote for one of the final 15 possible speakers. The student marshals themselves are undemocratically selected and may not represent the general graduating class. There is no reason that the marshals can’t create a narrowed-down list of 15 speakers, as was done this year, and then open up the vote to the entire graduating class. The administration should then do everything possible to obtain the top-voted speaker. This would ensure an open-door decision and would prevent the administration from using commencement to solidify monetary relationships with outside corporations.

SA is not advocating for more student involvement, and instead insists that the current process is ‘enough.’ It has abandoned student empowerment in favor of being on good terms with the administration. On this issue, SA has forgotten it stands for Student Association, not Support the Administration.

Adrienne Garcia

Senior English and textual studies and political science major