The Student Association’s proposed plan to change the name of the organization to Student Government Association was short-lived.

Following a call for the reconsideration of the name change by President Boris Gresely, the new name, SGA, was struck down by the assembly at Monday night’s SA meeting in Maxwell Auditorium. SGA failed to receive the two-thirds majority vote needed to pass during the revote, which means the organization’s name will remain Student Association.

Gresely said he reconsidered the bill because he wanted to give the assembly the chance to hear about the legacy and influence that the SA title has had for a very long time. Gresely acknowledged that SA has been the longest-standing name in the organization’s history.

“It would be nice if we could keep some consistency,” he said.

During its 71-year history, the organization has functioned under several names. Although the titles — including Joint Student Government, Student Government, Student Government Association and SA — may seem repetitive, they individually reflect the organization’s goals and purposes.

The 58th session of SA voted last week to change the organization’s title back to the Student Government Association. The SA assembly originally supported the provision because many members said they felt it was time for SA to make students aware of what the organization does and how they can get involved.

For example, when SA members table in Schine Student Center to recruit new representatives, they often find themselves explaining that SA is a student government organization, said Jack Harding, vice chair of the Administrative Operations Committee.

“Most people know of SA but they don’t really know what we are,” Harding said.

Numerous assembly representatives raised their hands to share their opinions during the discussion period of the reconsideration of the proposed name change. A major focus of the discussion was on whether or not SA does in fact govern.

SA has been viewed as an advocacy group since it switched from SGA to SA in 2000. Evan Ronen, who as speaker of the assembly does not vote on bills, said he supported the name change because he thinks it is important that students understand what SA does, but he disagrees with the idea that SA governs.

“SA is an advocate for the students. Even though we might not be able to enact policy directly, we hear what students are saying and then advocate to the administration for them,” Ronen said in an interview. “Us passing a bill that calls for action will make administrators have conversations because now they realize that students are concerned about this.”

Parliamentarian Stephen Thomas said during the discussion on Monday that SA still does govern students to an extent, giving the example of the organization’s finance board.

Thomas also discussed the Federalization Bill, which the Ad Op Committee hopes will aid SA in the transformation from a group that primarily advocates for students to a group that also governs.

The bill will create governments within the individual SU colleges so students will be able to communicate issues with their schools, like problems with classrooms, directly to these governments, Thomas said. The establishment of these smaller governments will take a burden off of SA and allow the organization to focus on governing issues that affect many students on campus, Thomas said.

Gresely said Monday that he spoke with a number of alumni who mentioned the fact that SA has both a legacy and a history and that the organization’s role has been one of lobbying and not necessarily of governing.

Jonathan Matthew Taylor, who is currently the co-chair of the SA-SGA Alumni Organization, said he questioned the validity of the name change.

In a letter to SA President Boris Gresely obtained by The Daily Orange, Taylor wrote, “Unlike a government that — well — governs, SA is based on a member organization, which promotes itself as a defender and representative of students — like a labor union but with all students as members.”

“It really is our duty to publicize exactly what we are working on regardless of our name and be honest and acknowledge the fact that we do not govern but instead lobby for student interests,” Gresely said.

Harding, vice chair of the Ad Op Committee, said he felt like Gresely’s relaying of the alumni information and history of SA to the assembly really opened a lot of student’s eyes to the reasons the organization has its name in the first place.

Harding also said the higher attendance at Monday’s meeting compared to the previous week probably influenced who spoke out about the name change.

Gresely said that SA alumni want to be remembered for the work that they did.

Said Gresely: “It was going to be a dishonor if we didn’t necessarily think about the legacy and impact that SA has had under that name.”

Published on February 24, 2015 at 12:50 am

Contact William: wrnorris@syr.edu