What SGA can take from Sabo's Example

There has been a lot of discussion recently in this class and in this blog, on how to increase voting in the SGA presidential election. I would like to offer an additional, more anecdotal view on the process. On the day voting opened, Sabo was in the Stetson East dining hall passing out fliers, talking to students, and encouraging them to vote. On a trip to the Stetson West dining hall this weekend, my friends and I again ran into Sabo. He took time to talk to us, inquire as to whether we had voted (courteously not asking who we voted for), and inquire about what issues were important to us. When multiple people at our table indicated that we were student leaders and that the interaction of SGA and student organizations was an important issue to us, he asked what our organizations could benefit from and what processes we viewed as potentially useful ways of communication. He offered up additional ideas of his own that he was promoting as part of his platform.

There were five people sitting at our table. Two had been influenced to vote by Sabo the first day, at Stetson East. Another was influenced to vote by Sabo the second day, at Stetson West. I had already voted but if I hadn’t, I definitely would have after the discussion with Sabo about how to improve communication between student organizations and SGA. The fifth person attends Dartmouth.

I was amazed at the ability of one person (who we had never met before) to influence so much of my social group to vote, through a single personal interaction. I think this story really speaks to the power of social influence we have been discussing. In my opinion, it would be tremendously beneficial to SGA in general to follow Sabo’s example. I would like to see SGA take one day and have all of their members promote the organization by sharing with as many people as possible their position, what they as an individual do within the organization, and what they plan on doing to move the organization forward in the future. I think that would really put a human face to a three letter acronym. And I think that that human face is what will get students to vote.