Editorial A False Start for the SGA

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Sam Rodriguez's presidential campaign last spring energized the historically stale politics of the Student Government Association (SGA) at Middlebury College. His fresh ideas and palpable enthusiasm merited a ringing endorsement from this editorial board.

But the first month of his administration leaves us wanting for action. By any measure, Rodriguez - who seemed the rabblerousing outsider intent on bringing the SGA to the people - is off to a sluggish start.

The lack of coordination in his administration will hinder the very innovation we hoped he would bring.

Though his personality serves him well, his approachability, contagious energy and well-staffed SGA information tables are not enough to affect meaningful change. SGA politics requires a carefully crafted agenda that is systematically pursued by senators and cabinet members. And it involves far more than the informal research that Rodriguez's administration claims to date. That, in fact, should happen at the campaign stage as candidates are fleshing out their platforms.

So where's the progress? Where's the agenda? Where, come to think of it, are the senators?

The one-week delay in Senate elections is a clear symptom of the scattered administration. Senators must be in place, introduced to the workings of the bureaucracy and given time to pursue legislation in the interest of their constituents, all of which is compromised by the SGA's slow grinding into gear. Any delay in forming the Senate is a delay in the business of the SGA. This should be of utmost concern to Rodriguez and his cabinet.

Given the slow start, Rodriguez must reassess his strategy if he hopes to rescue the SGA from obscurity. There is no doubt he has the ability to deliver the student engagement and concrete results he pledged in his campaign - free HIV/STD testing in the Health Center and more healthful options in the dining halls, to name just two. We just haven't seen it yet, and the first month of the semester is already history.

With the Senate soon to be elected, Rodriguez now stands to showcase his leadership. His lackluster debut makes administrative coordination even more vital as he enters his second month as president.

We hold out hope that he will ultimately prove the aggressive, proactive leader we recommended to the student body last spring in our annual endorsement. The issues on the table this semester demand it: With Winter Term under review by the faculty, for example, a student voice will be essential. Rodriguez's SGA should provide it.

We'd also like to see Rodriguez take up the issue of first-year orientation, which stands to be dramatically scaled back next year.

Rodriguez's false start, after all, doesn't forfeit him the race. But he must find his stride, and soon.