CSUN's Conundrum

Headline: CSUN’s Conundrum

Written By: Kristin Simons

Social Media Tweet: Student Governments, Power Plays and the Shadow of Current Politics… Oh My! [Insert Link]

When you think of college what comes to mind? Probably toga parties, the freshmen 15, stressing out about school work, and other similar topics. Most likely not the college student government. Colleges have many different varieties on the names they give these student governments. For UNLV, it’s called Consolidated Students of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (CSUN).* Demi Falcon, the Associate Director of Academic Engagement for CSUN, gives a description of the student government, “It’s a student operated organization on campus that is funded by a small fee charged on every tuition. CSUN Student Government hosts events like the Research Forum, Party in the Pida, tailgates before games, etc.” Falcon also touches on the fact that there are other areas that CSUN focuses on, such as diversity and funding. Falcon’s description of CSUN gives the reader an impression of a well-rounded organization, or at least that’s what it aims to be. It’s only fitting since college is a time to prep young adults for the real world, the faults CSUN contains models the current political government. The current political climate is akin to this year’s Oscars: messy, problematic and in need of a restructure.

An anonymous source claims there have been acts of sexism within the student government. That source said that the current CSUN president had many CSUN women student workers fired for no substantial reason. Since there is a current commander-in-chief who brags about grabbing women “by the pussy,” why shouldn’t our future leaders follow his sexist example? One of the candidates that ran for CSUN vice president this year (running alongside the current president) had posted offensive tweets about minorities and flagrant use of guns. This even drew the attention of a local news channel that questioned the candidate about his tweets. The candidate tried to avoid answering those questions in the news segment. There’s also was a questionable incident during last year’s election when someone was wearing there ROTC uniform while campaigning. A rather illegal offense. This didn’t go unnoticed by some other CSUN members who vied to have them impeached. The student brought in their ROTC sergeant general to represent them. They did not get impeached. A current CSUN student member confirmed this story. Also this current election for CSUN had a setback. It came to light that some NSHE numbers were stolen and used to rig the election. This was found out somehow. This caused a pause in the election cycle for UNLV, as well as a revote.

The question I had about CSUN, in general, was why people got so amped up about a student government? Perhaps I’m too apathetic to the on-goings of UNLV. To be fair, unless a student is involved with CSUN or in a club needing financial backing, not a lot of students think twice about it.

I asked Falcon why she thought certain personalities were drawn toward CSUN, “Although this University is a Minority Serving Institution (universities that enroll a high percentage and receive special grants from the federal government) many conservative students with controversial opinions on immigration or diversity populate the offices each year. These are opinions that are verbalized in the senate floor in some cases, which is absolutely shocking. These students should not be making decisions for a diverse student body. Of course, there are CSUN employees that serve the student body in good faith, but there are some that have also use it to publicize their bad politics.”

Kevin McVay, UNLV Publicity & Program Logistics Coordinator for Student Engagement and Diversity, also had a few thoughts on CSUN, “As a former CSUN member in 2013, my viewpoint on CSUN is mixed. I personally, based off my own experiences as a student member, truly believe that CSUN serves a needed purpose at UNLV… The culture surrounding CSUN, however, has impacted me negatively. There was a large power dynamic at play in CSUN meetings and I felt that politics did impact the decision-making process among those elected to serve in this organization.”

When it comes to what types of personalities are attracted to CSUN McVay said, “… I feel that there are three types of people who gravitate towards CSUN - those who really want to make an impact and positive change to UNLV's community, those who are in it for power or the resume booster, and those who fall somewhere in-between. I feel that many students in CSUN are opinionated and that the organization caters more to assertive and task-oriented personalities.”

McVay was asked directly as to what attributed students behaviors in taking this organization a little too seriously, “I think this may be attributed to the students' personalities as well as the uniqueness of CSUN's legal responsibilities. Since CSUN is governed by the Board of Regents and are an independently-run organization, they are accountable to the public and laws that are in their best interest. For this reason, missteps from students in CSUN could result in a violation some public law. Students who are a part of CSUN know this, and may decide to utilize their legal right to sue. I feel that a lot of time, these things are brought up because a student has high stakes in the organization.” McVay does make a note that CSUN has plenty of positives, not just negatives.

Unlike the current state of politics CSUN does show a more promising future. The current president has failed to pass the first round of election for the next term, and the candidates vying for his spot show more admirable traits. Yet, I’m sure CSUN will achieve a conflict-free plateau for a short time before getting entangled into something else. It is a vicious circle after all.

*Used for CSUN's expanded name. https://www.unlv.edu/csun/about