SGA Saves Connecticut College from Fascism
If not for the SGA, this article would be in German.
Student Government Association (SGA) meetings are similar to the 2024 Republican presidential debates: Nobody's exactly thrilled to be there, most attendees could think of a dozen better ways to spend their time, and everybody not involved forgot it even occurred.
The characters bear resemblance as well. You've got your Ron DeSantis, the guy who's all fired up but can't seem to talk without drowning in buzzwords, tired tropes, and awkwardness. Then there's the Vivek Ramaswamy wannabe, who turns every meeting into a personal soapbox for spouting nonsense, making you want to steer clear of his presence until graduation. The bulk of SGA members resemble Nikki Haley: They have serious ideas for improving Conn, which leaves you scratching your head wondering why they're there. Serious proposals for the college are reserved for administrators and trustees (and absent in the current GOP). The few remaining are so forgettable that they could easily pass as hired background actors—or maybe they're simply stoned, and who can blame them?
This is mostly an exaggeration. I’ve participated in a few SGA meetings as a substitute House Senator. Most members seemed genuinely interested in improving Conn. I admire their efforts, but the problem lies in SGA's inability to effect substantive change. From my experiences, meeting conversations often revolve around grievances of student-parking policies and dining hall food quality. But SGA is unable to change even that, never mind deep issues on campus.
This must be the strongest parallel between SGA and the GOP debates: the mythology of their importance. Just as the GOP debates amounted to little more than a sideshow before voters ultimately coronated a seasoned expert in electoral, business, and moral failures, Donald Trump, most of the real decisions at Conn are made by the administration or Board of Trustees, often making SGA meetings more theatrical than Conn’s theatrical productions.
Consider the SGA meeting on Thursday, February 15, confronting the most pressing issues of campus life: fascism and press censorship.
The College Voice’s Adrien Landon reports that the meeting kicked off with a riveting debate over whether journalists should even be allowed in the room. One House Senator proposed that a TCV journalist could come, but only if their coverage got the official stamp of approval from the SGA assembly.
Too many journalists can crowd out a room, harming the democratic process. During the French Revolution, public spectators were allowed into the National Assembly. Its legislators turned one-by-one into rabble-rousing ranters, swept away by political passions as they tried to curry favor with a fiery minority of spectators rather than representing the broader public. A similar malady plays out in the modern U.S. Congress, where C-SPAN cameras turn proceedings into nothing more than a platform for members to chase after viral soundbites.
Though I’d likely support TCV’s journalistic presence, it’s not foolish to be skeptical.
It’s foolish to insist that journalistic reporting needs the approval of a glorified debate club.
Welcoming a journalist's presence versus exerting control over their reporting is the difference between an Army representative visiting your high-school to romanticize military life and being forced into conscription. And at least forced conscription only applies to half the population.
TCV reports that while a few members spoke up in favor of controlling the Voice’s voice, others voiced their objections.
“It doesn’t really make sense for the government to be okay-ing what gets published, because that’s just a little fascist,” Parliamentarian Timothy Friend ‘25 reportedly remarked. “We should just let the journalist here do her job, and we all here should just do our job,” Blackstone House Senator Abdul Dare ‘27 added, per TCV.
However, as often happens in discussions at Conn, such disagreement couldn't simply be categorized as a clash between good and bad ideas, wise and foolish decisions, liberal and illiberal views, or between the guy making sensible arguments and the one who believes freedom of the press means having free rein over elevator buttons. Nope, it also had to be a showdown between pro-fascism and anti-fascism.
SGA voted to allow TCV’s presence, but they also formally denounced fascism. (The National Socialist Workers’ Club of Connecticut College could not be reached for comment). However, the SGA meeting accomplished something far greater than that: It found a way to kill more time.
Well done, Mr. Gattuso!
Great article. Right blend humor and good, thoughtful points.