el Don News
Staff Editorial
Left to their own devices, student leaders get bogged down by petty infighting that embarrasses us all.
Associated Student Government President Edna Tobias and Vice-President Michael Burris chose to resign
from their positions April 9, rather than face impeachment proceedings.
Earlier this month, Tobias sent an email accusing Chief Justice Clara Avila of fixing votes for Santa Ana College’s representative for the Student Senate of California Community Colleges.
After a tumultuous year of government-related pitfalls, ASG has devolved from a functional student-run government into a drama-filled episode of Glee, with student leaders missing out on educational opportunities and the rest of us left without representation.
This type of behavior embarrasses all of us, and it must change.
Student government has been floundering without proper guidance, and it falls upon administrators to first reform ASG to a for-credit course as the college has offered it in the past.
Next, students need to learn how to properly address issues and communicate as adults from a faculty adviser with an extensive background in the mentoring of student leaders.
It’s unfair to expect students to behave as leaders and comport themselves within a political setting without steady, qualified and consistent guidance from a professional in the structured environment of a classroom.
