This week the Student Government Association celebrates “Make a Difference Week,” a week in which SGA’s executive board has decided to ride the coattails of other campus organizations’ philanthropies.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the organizations SGA is highlighting with “Make a Difference Week” are wonderful. I’d encourage everybody to participate in the Up ‘til Dawn letter writing parties or give money to the United Way penny wars. Giving back to the community is important and allows each of us to, well, “make a difference.”

But SGA should be doing more than promoting other organizations’ events and passing them off as our own. This is hardly the diligent work and bold leadership I expect out of an executive cabinet. In fact, I fail to see how SGA has made a single difference under Kevin Smiley.

Senate attendance is stagnant, to say the least, and participation is lackluster. Sitting in the chambers is more a tedious chore and less the dynamic, engaging experience the current executive board promised during last semester’s campaign and to the new senators—myself included—when we were elected last month.


I know firsthand how frustrating it is to be criticized for another branch’s shortcomings. When I was Chief-of-Staff, and later Executive Vice President, it always aggravated me when the press blamed us for the Senate’s lack of initiative.

Still, under Jeanne Fisher, Johnathan Boles, and Kayla Shelton the executive cabinet firmly believed that we were responsible for setting the tone and agenda of the organization. In doing so, we accomplished a great deal, from defeating plus/minus grading to addressing issues of campus safety and security following Virginia Tech and last fall’s “Lockdown”
 So far, all Kevin Smiley’s executive cabinet has done is pick up trash and encourage students to spend a night in a cardboard box. 


It became increasingly apparent to me that the SGA leadership was not interested in the lobbying and administrative roles to which they were elected or appointed when, a couple weeks ago, I publicly asked Director of Academic and Student Affairs, Aaron Pawley, whether he was working on anything that wasn’t philanthropic.

He looked at me puzzled, asking what I specifically meant. “Anything related to academic or student affairs,” I said. I mean after all, his job is spelled out right there in his title. It took him a while, but he came up with a few things he was working with senators on. Sadly, they were all programs the senators pretty much had covered. 


This administration has yet to launch a single major initiative, and while “Make a Difference Week” is a noble undertaking and the causes all worthy, it isn’t SGA’s job to be charitable.

Though philanthropy is important and SGA should do it’s part, the Smiley administration would do well to remember that SGA is, first and foremost, here to serve the students. SGA’s main charge is to advocate the interests of WKU students to faculty, staff, administrators and at all levels of government. SGA’s responsibility is to provide students with a voice, not community service hours.


The executive cabinet needs to turn its attention to fighting tuition increases, working to prevent tiered, classist parking from becoming a reality, evaluating issues with dining services, and generally working to improve student life. “Make a Difference Week” is a nice idea, but it has absolutely nothing to do with advocating student interests. 


If the cabinet doesn’t start tackling these and other challenging issues, they are in danger of losing the support and faith of not only those who elected him, but of those who serve under them.

I fear that if SGA, led by the executive branch, does not redouble and refocus its efforts on the issues it was elected to deal with, there will be internal consequences. I predict now a massive turnover of senators, disenchanted by the lack of promised progress. 


If Kevin Smiley hopes to avoid losing the best and brightest senators, he needs to examine his priorities and hit the ground running on issues that matter. It’s time for SGA to actually make a difference.

Skylar Baker-Jordan is a current at-large senator in the Student Government Association.
He previously served in numerous capacities, most recently as Executive Vice President.