A lot of people have been asking me if my campaign is serious over the last few days.
When the campaign started, I would’ve said no. The world has far too many real problems to take an SGA campaign too seriously. I think part of what I was, and still am, trying to say with this campaign is that maybe we should take Student Government a little less seriously. This school has real problems, and real areas for improvement, and groups like Reclaim are doing dynamic work trying to make this school, and its surrounding communities, a better place. In contrast, tinkering with the Hark and getting new furniture for the lounge, while fine ideas, do not warrant the same level of seriousness. Every year candidates for student government say the same things. And every year they are just as boring and ineffectual as the last.
Now I wouldn’t be honest if I told you part of me isn’t serious about this election. I’m serious about my distaste with the ease with which corporate law convinces hundreds of my peers to accept a job they won’t like. I’m serious about my commitment to environmental issues. My friends and I are serious about the work we’ve put in on the campaign, spending hours creating content. It has been the most fun I’ve had in law school, but it has still been work.
But the answer is neither yes nor no. Let’s reject the false dichotomy where one has to be either serious or unserious. The world is filled with “serious” people who pollute our environment, start unnecessary wars, keep all of the wealth concentrated among their friends, and turn a blind eye towards racial discrimination. It is also filled with “unserious” people who speak truth to the complexities of being alive, the hypocrisy of far too many of our politicians, and the structural imbalances of our society. We can make this school a better place; we can implement those small changes that make our experience better, while laughing the whole way through. I plan on running an unserious SGA that furthers serious causes. And I plan on winning this election.
With love,
Korey Silverman-Roati
Korey Silverman-Roati is a 2L. He is a candidate for president of SGA.