Tyler Brklacich : Letter to the editor
Reading Time: 5 minutesNow that elections are over and the dust is settling of excitement, disappointment, and most notably, the
campaign publicity is nowhere to be seen – we look to the future. I congratulate Team ONE for being elected
UVUSA Executive Council for the 2015-2016 school year and give my empathy to Team UP for putting up a good
fight. Elections are not easy and I commend both teams for the courage to face nearly 30,000 students and ask
for a vote.
Elections also bring a time of opinions, debate, and at times contention — and this year was no different. In the
words of Joey Whitaker in a letter to the editor dated March 2, 2015 concerning inclusive leadership, “I am
disappointed….” As Elections Chair, I was able to see an aerial view of all teams, supporters, and outsiders
coming together to support, inquire, and what seemed to be most common: tearing others down.
Mr. Whitaker courageously brought attention to the actions of specific student leaders at the UVUSA debate on
February 24. Immediately following a student’s tweet concerning the support of Team UP for their diversity of
candidates, five students associated with student organizations began tweeting back as to why this individual
was wrong, creating a back and forth tweet-attack, with a final tweet stating, “you can’t argue with stupid”.
To the shock of several in attendance, this behavior was not left to just social media attacks. During the debate
Teresa Wilson, candidate for VP of Academic Senate for Team UP, spoke of helping an individual who was of
low-income and unable to afford housing and because of this was currently living with her. A group of student
leaders began to whisper, snicker, and mock the fact that she was crying, leaving the bystanders sitting in front
of them stunned.
Unfortunately what the letter to the editor innocently omitted was clarification of who was specifically being
called out. The student association encompasses the entirety of UVU’s student body and in short, calling out all
student leaders. I do not want there to be a misinterpretation that this letter to the editor was targeting UVUSA
or the leaders, rather it was directed at student body leaders as a whole.
Furthermore, I became even more disheartened by the way campaigns were being run as they focused on the
mistakes and downfalls of the current and past student governments. Rather than stating the laundry list of
success that UVUSA has been able to accomplish this past year, teams and supporters chose to create a delusion
of failure, lack of transparency, and with no diligence to student success. In a way, I resent that. I resent that the
road to your success is paved by tearing others down, yet claiming their accomplishments as your own. The
elections turned into what has not been done rather than what their team could accomplish for the student
body – implicitly showing a lack of professionalism and readiness for the positions at hand.
In the same edition of the school’s newspaper, from a member of the UVU Review I read, “The problem is
there’s never any new blood in UVUSA…Successors, like those who came before them, with a limited
worldview.” To this statement: Isn’t this exactly how you were selected into your position as well as all those
previous before you? By being involved within the organization and working your way up from a volunteer, to a
position, and then finally to the position you hold now. I must only assume if this is the case that you too share
the same limited world view that you state UVUSA holds.
Each year, UVUSA leadership is a target for two weeks of complaints and “what do you even do?” As a council
that is made up of nearly two-thirds of new UVUSA Council members, I stand by RISE and the 2014-2015 UVUSA
Council. I applaud them for the work and 11,000-plus hours they have dedicated to the success of the
organization and student body to date. I congratulate their efforts to be more inclusive with involving 88-plus
student volunteers and creating/executing over 67 events involving 18,000-plus students from the beginning of
August. I am proud of them that they are not a part of exclusivity as they focused on involving more students
than ever before.
To answer the age old question, “what does student government even do?” below is a list of just a few things
that RISE has accomplished:
– Was elected with the largest voter turnout in UVU’s history with 15.6 percent of the student body voting
for RISE
– The first ever online student feedback system, Student Voice, which allowed UVUSA to more actively
and easily seek out the concerns of the student population
– Hosted four academic speakers including Kyle Beckerman, Kweku Mandela, and Elizabeth Smart with
over 6,000 students, faculty, and community in attendance throughout the semester
– Largest Club Rush events in UVUSA history with over 3,000 students participating each semester
– Bringing the inaugural TEDxUVU to campus on April 1
– Led a campaign advocating for lower tuition to the Utah State Legislature, having our written resolution
read on both the House & Senate floor
– Led a sexual assault prevention and awareness campaign, in conjunction with the Dean of Students
office, creating awareness, resources, and education across campus
– Advocated and received seven full scholarships for the Service Student Council
– Implemented summer programming to better serve our student population for upcoming years
– Received approval and funding for 50 new open lab computers in the library
– Nominated Mitt Romney as the Commencement speaker to the Board of Trustees
– For the first time ever, published online a breakdown of student fees in order to be more transparent
with where student fees are being allocated. http://www.uvu.edu/uvusa/docs/student_fee_info.pdf
– For the first time in UVU history, reduced student fees by a total of $10 for the next academic year
Am I to say that there are no problems with student government? Absolutely not. There is always improvement
to be made and that is the purpose of UVUSA and student organizations – to continue to build the organization
and most importantly other students. More so, issues that were seen during this election are not a reflection of
a lack of work or effort, but rather a lack of understanding and communication to and from student leaders and
the general student body.
When will we as a society come to learn that we are all humans, walking through life with stories that no one
can fully understand except the one carrying the weight of the pain. Have we not learned through our traumatic
experiences in junior high and high school that the one thing we all desire for is acceptance and friendship? I
believe it is our own insecurities and self-hatred that makes us resort to a new-aged form of bullying through
belittling, excluding, and pinpointing every little flaw that an individual may have – and we do it with a smile on
our face.
This past week was hard and for all the wrong reasons. I am supposed to be sad that my year is coming to an
end, that I have two months left before I leave UVU and that I must start beginning to say my “see you laters”.
However, I am sad to see what these past two weeks have done to students across all areas of the university.
This is Utah Valley University, one of, if not the best University in the state of Utah and we have a great
responsibility to represent the good of this institution.
I encourage as the new student leaders go forth with their responsibilities that they take into consideration of
appreciation of the efforts and hard work put before them. This organization and university was not built in a
day or a year, nor by just one person or set of people. This is a collaboration of success that should be celebrated
proudly. I am proud to be a Wolverine and always will be.
Sincerely,
Tyler Brklacich
Student Body President