A constitutional amendment seeking to restrict student body candidates failed at the voting booths on Oct. 5.

The amendment passed through the student senate 22 to 7 before it was presented to the student body. If approved, students would have to serve two long semesters in the Student Senate or Judicial Board in order to qualify to run for student body president Exceptions would be allowed if a potential candidate secures 2/3 of the Senate vote.

WTAMU and Texas A&M are the only schools in the A&M system that do not have a rule similar to this in effect. Currently, any WT student can run for student body president as long as they complete a certain number of credit hours.

“I strongly believe that if a student wishes to run for student body president, they should have that opportunity without having to go through the senate for approval,” Miranda Knippers, College of Education and Social Sciences senator, said. “The student body is educated enough to know who is a well-qualified candidate for the position.”

However, others feel that experience in student government is important.

“The Student Body President has many unique powers and abilities that require him or her to know and understand the legislative and judicial processes.” Nicholas Goettsche, biology senator and author of CA 10110, said.
“Without firsthand knowledge of these two areas, I do not believe they would be able to fully understand and engage in the duties required.”

Knippers foresees potential problems with the bill.

“If a 2/3 vote were required by the senate to be eligible to be a candidate, the senate would be placed in a judgmental position, and to me, that is not the  responsibility  of the  student  senate,” she  said.

Goettsche feels that WT could have benefited from the amendment, and he is hopeful that students will support it in the future.

“I believe the schools who have passed such an amendment will be run more effectively and create a better environment for their students,” he said. “While this constitutional amendment would have restricted some candidates, there was a compromise in place to give them an opportunity to become student body president. We were the only school in the [A&M] system to propose such a compromise.”

The bill’s failure may be a setback for its supporters, but some students like senior education major Courtney Ericson are satisfied with the result.

“I like our [current] set up,” said Ericson.