Biola’s Student Government Association’s (SGA) Constitution preamble evokes language similar to the famous preamble of the US Constitution: “We, the students of Biola University, aim to advance the interests and well-being of our student body. To this end, we entrust our power in chosen representatives.”
The words “chosen representatives” imply that Biola’s SGA is a democratic and representative form of government. Now, a truly democratic and representative government relies on two key forms of participation from its community: voting and running for office.
Unfortunately, Biola’s students don’t always come out to vote or run for office during election season. This year’s failed SGA election season highlights this very problem. For the first time, Biola failed to elect an SGA President for the next academic year. Furthermore, only two Senators were elected into office.
Students’ failure to participate in the electoral season has resulted in two key problems: a problem of candidate quality and a problem of adequate representation. In other words, when the community fails to adequately participate as candidates and voters, SGA becomes less and less democratic and representative.
During my tenure as an SGA senator and my time as an SGA presidential candidate, I gave a lot of thought to these issues. I want to shed some light on the issues themselves and share with you all some possible solutions moving forward.
THE PROBLEM OF CANDIDATE QUALITY
SGA consists of two bodies: the Senate and the Cabinet.
The Senate serves as SGA’s legislative branch and it consists of senators, each of whom represents the dorm, apartment and commuter communities. The Cabinet serves as the executive branch and is headed by the president and vice president. During election season, all Senate positions as well as the president and vice president positions are up for election. Students vote for their respective senator and their choice for president & vice-president.
On average, only a handful of students gather up the courage, resources and support necessary to launch a bid for office at Biola. For example, only one of the last three election cycles featured more than one candidate for SGA President/Vice-President. The inconsistency in the number of candidates running for office leads to a decline in candidate quality. When only one candidate or ticket (when two candidates run jointly for presidential and vice presidential positions) runs for office, so long as that group gains the minimum number of votes (10% of the total undergraduate student body population), they will win the election. In other words, it’s harder to evaluate how good these candidates (and their ideas) really are when they’re the only ones on the table.
Noah McWilliams, a freshman political science major, shared his concern with the lack of candidates during this present election season.
“I think we only have one person running for president [and] in nearly every dorm there is an unopposed race for senator,” McWilliams said.
McWilliams added that it’s difficult to remain engaged if nobody is running to represent your dorm.
“If you live in Hart and no one is running for senator, you don’t even pay attention to the senatorial election because you can do nothing to change it,” McWilliams said. “This is even worse when there is only one candidate for president because most freshmen become completely uninterested.”
A multiplicity of candidates running for positions in SGA is necessary; it helps to refine and sharpen the various ideas and solutions proposed by each candidate. Additionally, more candidate options invite the student body to consider the various candidates and their proposed solutions more carefully than in years where only one ticket runs.
THE PROBLEM OF ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION
Meanwhile, the branch of SGA directly tasked with representing the people is the Senate.
When Senate positions are vacant after the election cycle — meaning nobody ran for that respective Senate position — the president and vice president-elect get the power to fill those vacancies. This involves a hiring process in which candidates must have their applications endorsed by a certain number of students from the community they wish to represent. Once the application and signatures are processed, the candidate then proceeds to an interview with the vice president-elect. Ultimately, it is the president-elect and vice president-elect who make the final hiring decision.
The SGA Constitution, in its current form, grants the president & vice president this power in Bylaw IX, Section III, C, i-ii, stating, “Any Senate position not filled by the election process shall be hired by the President-elect & Senior Vice President-elect, subject to the approval of the SGA Advisor. … Final hiring decisions for Senators shall be made by the Senior Vice President-elect, with approval of the President-elect and SGA Advisor.”
In recent years, a number of Senate positions were filled not by the democratic electoral process, but by the hiring process. For those of us familiar with SGA and its inner workings, this has been a subject of much debate and discussion.
During the campaign week, Faith Ising and Josiah McCracken, the sole candidates in the 2025–2026 SGA Election, commented on the lack of student participation in the SGA election and failed hiring process, stating, “[We] agree that there needs to be more participation and outreach in regards to the elections, so that the VP, advisor and president would not have to hire senators. However, sometimes, there is not enough student interest, so hiring must occur in order to fill a senator role. While this may seem unfair to students, since they are not able to elect someone from/for their dorm/commuter life, we think that there is something that Josiah and I could do to compromise.”
The hiring process needs further reformation in order to better represent the student body. The president and vice president should never make a senate hiring decision. These are two branches of government distinguished by their respective purposes and functions. To have one branch shape the other in such a direct way compromises the idea of separation of power. A candidate’s qualifications and proper ability to represent constituents is a decision better placed in the hands of students, perhaps even senators via hiring or confirmation hearings, not the president and vice-president elect.
Ising and McCracken have been directly affected by the lack of participation in the elections as they failed to meet the minimum number of votes to become the president and vice-president for the 2024-25 term. As a result, a committee consisting of student leaders and Biola faculty and administrators will now be selected and appointed by the next SGA president and vice-president. In short, due to a lack of participation, the decision has been transferred from the students into the hands of administrators, faculty and a select number of students.
Again, this second problem only occurs after the first; Senate, and now Presidential, vacancies are only appointed by the incoming administration when students fail to run for that respective office.
HOW TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT
The key question is, then, how do we get Biola students to both participate as candidates and elections in the next few years? Well, I believe there are two solutions to tackle this problem.
First, I would like to remind the student body that voting matters. The election season is one of the few times students are empowered to help influence, shape and reform Biola. For students, during your time at Biola, if you see a voting booth in the Spring, take time to research the candidates and engage with their ideas and vision for SGA. And when the time comes, vote for representatives who will be wise and proactive. Your vote is more powerful than you know.
For those students who are inclined to run, I highly encourage you to run, do not be afraid. As a former candidate myself, I can attest that launching a campaign has been one of the most enjoyable and transformative experiences I have ever lived. Campaign week provided me the opportunity to engage with the campus community in a personal way. Additionally, I met tons of new people and made many new friends. Does launching a campaign require a decent amount of work and commitment? Yes, of course. But the reward, whether it be the position itself or the experience of running, is absolutely worth it.
Next, I believe that part of the solution to SGA’s participation problems also lies in SGA’s own hands. SGA needs to become a more active participant in the school’s community and environment. Many students today still are unaware of what exactly SGA is, what it does and how it can truly help make their experiences at Biola better. The more students know about SGA and interact personally with its members, the more students will run for office. When more students run for office, better candidates will be selected from among the student body.
Both Senators and members of the Cabinet need to go out into their communities and actively seek out their constituents. It is only by establishing friendly and personal relationships with constituents that students will become inspired and aware of the wonderful opportunities available to them through Biola’s SGA.
In order to prevent inadequate student representation, SGA needs to reform the constitution in a more substantive way. As the founding document for SGA, the Constitution’s words are the law of the land. It outlines the fundamental principles that define SGA and guide its daily efforts.
In its current form, the Constitution grants the Vice-President powers that fundamentally make SGA less democratic and less representative. The Constitution hiring process must be amended in order to transfer this power to Senators. I believe that Senators are much better equipped and empowered to help hire future senators, should vacancies arise.
This can be done in a variety of ways, one of which could be creating a Senator Hiring Committee, structured in a way that resembles other current SGA committees, where Senators, not the Vice-President elect, can interview candidates and recommend hiring options.
Constitutional reformation efforts should not focus solely on spelling and bullet points but rather on key issues that pertain to SGA’s identity as a governmental institution, like the protection of separation of powers and improving its fractured senatorial hiring procedures. Failure to do so will perpetuate the participation problem on campus.
SGA was designed to be a democratic and representative institution for students, but low student participation in voting and candidacy has diminished its effectiveness. By increasing awareness of SGA’s role, encouraging more students to run for office and reforming the hiring process, I believe SGA can better serve and advocate for student needs in a truly consequential way.
My hope is that this article inspires you, the students of this amazing campus, to engage in the electoral process, whether as voters or candidates. Participation in SGA elections is crucial because SGA holds real power to influence upper-level decisions and advocate for a wide range of student concerns. Without your involvement, the student body loses an essential voice in shaping campus life.
