Greek life’s influence on Undergraduate Student Government
Undergraduate Student Government, simply known as USG, is a sovereign representative of the students of Kent State. Currently, 17 of the 25 positions are held by members of Greek life, which can project an image that fraternities and sororities hold considerable sway within the organization.
USG consists of 25 officials, which are elected in the spring semester. Eight of these are directors that cover a specific area regarding student life, the remaining sixteen are senators that represent a variety of constituencies.
The organization provides the campus community with a variety of services such as bike rentals, voter registration information, music concerts and an opportunity for students to have their voices heard.
While according to the USG website, which states that it “always strives to represent the best interest of the undergraduate student body”, many students on campus know nothing to very little about USG.
Nathaniel Hedington, a senior archaeology major, said that he just knows that it “exists” and nothing more of the services it provides.
Other students such as Joshua Paulin, a freshmen accounting major, knows that USG provides some services for student organizations such as fund allocation.
“They also plan some of the campus-wide events,” Paulin said.
When asked questions about Greek life holding a majority of the positions within USG, Paulin didn’t seem to mind as long as they don’t solely vote for the initiatives and legislation that are friendly towards the Greek community.
Molly Pfeil, a senior visual communication design major, said that she has voted in previous elections and although she thinks that it’s “fishy” USG is occupied by a majority of Greek life, she understands that it’s also due to the general student population being uninvolved with USG.
As students seem to be either being unaware of USG or feel that it doesn’t concern them, the organization has taken steps to get more students involved and to help convey their interests.
Kathleen Piascik, a senior human development and family studies major, is the Senator for the College of Education, Health and Human Services. She is also a Chi Omega sister.
Piascik said that as long as the students vote for the most qualified regardless if they’re affiliated with Greek life or not, that it shouldn’t matter who gets elected.
“I think that if the students have an interest and they see a position on USG they feel qualified for, that they should run for it regardless if they’re Greek life or not,” Piascik said.
She also added that she was once very uninformed about the organization herself, but grew more familiar after knowing a member personally.
“There’s still a lot to be done in terms of publicity for USG and I feel that this year has been one of our goals to bring our name out there,” Piascik said.
Colin Otubu, a senior finance major, is the USG Director of Business and Finance and a brother with Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Otubu also feels that USG has been taking steps to bring awareness to the student body.
“What’s been working best to get USG out to the public would be social media,” Otubu said. “Through Twitter and making sure we’re active on it, we’re communicating(with) the students better and bringing awareness on what USG does.”
Troy Kotsch, a junior biology major, is also a brother of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the 2016-2017 term USG Senator for the College of Arts , feels that the notion that students don’t know anything about USG is “100% true.”
“I had to go around and get 300 signatures for my run for the USG and every single person either asked what USG is or know them as the people who brought the concert,” he said.
Kotsch said that a reason why so many Greeks are involved with USG is the fact that many of these students joined fraternities and sororities because they want to be involved and it just happens to correlate with USG.
To find out more about USG, visit http://www.kentstateusg.com/