Though election time has come to a close, it will be a race that will be remembered not only because of the candidates, but also because of the protestors.
During the 2012 UVUSA elections debate on March 6, the Revolutionary Student Union exercised their freedom to protest and be heard.
With signs like “Vote Against Corruption,” “Your vote is rigged” and “Accountability for our student fees”, the RSU’s main goal was to educate students about the election’s process and the overall feeling of lack of transparency.
The group began last Monday by passing out fliers throughout campus. The fliers addressed the issues of transparency, campaign violations and biases within the elections committee.
“[Students] recognized the fact that we were approaching them as fellow students who cared enough to actively inform their vote,” said Jessica Burnham, a member of the RSU and one of the protestors. “The seeming apathy of students is reflective of the relationship student government has failed to foster with them.”
There was a little negative feedback, however, with some students calling the protestors mean, and testing their knowledge of UVUSA matters.
“My response is that it is more ‘mean’ to deprive UVU students of a genuinely democratic election process by manipulating the rules to your advantage, thereby limiting our exposure to some teams in favor of others,” Burnham said.
During the debate, the RSU silently held up their signs inside of the debate, while other protestors remained outside Centre Stage, talking to passers by.
The next steps for the RSU include reaching out to the newly elected UVUSA Executive council to make themselves heard.
“We will make our grievances known to those who were elected and call them to action,” Burnham said.
This is the same Jessica Burnham that was a spokesperson for the Occupy Provo group? What, they used the same cardboard and just turned the signs around?