Between the recent resignation of former Senate President Rachel Saunders, the release of the disparaging group chats, and many other factors, Student Government has been the center of a lot of controversy.

But at the end of the day, Student Government is just students, representing the student body with the purpose of helping them. Spinnaker reached out to UNF students to get their thoughts on what’s going on in Student Government.

The feedback was overwhelmingly negative with many feeling a strong dislike towards Student Government.

“SG has a toxic and unprofessional work environment, ”one student wrote.

“Too many decisions are made based off of people’s personal agendas,” according to another student. 

Some students admitted the faults found in Student Government but defended their work overall.

“There is a lot of bullying in SG, but they do their job at the end of the day and are here for the students,” one student commented.

However, many had suggestions on how Student Government could improve. Some students suggested more respect, transparency, and/or professionalism among the members of Student Government.

“I wish they would be respectful and becoming of their offices,” said one student.

“SG members need to be more closely monitored by their supervisors,” suggested another student.

Spinnaker reached out to Student Government for a statement on these responses, and this is what they had to say:

“As an organization that is built on the foundation of “students serving students” we recognize that we have an obligation to be an accessible and professional resource for the Student Body. While Student Government (SG) is a learning environment for our student leaders, we also understand that SG has had some shortcoming in the recent past. We are proud to say that we are growing as an organization, and we look forward to being the best we can be for the upcoming year. The students in this administration have been working diligently to serve the Osprey community and have committed themselves to making SG an effective, accessible and reliable organization through which we can advocate for our Students. We are excited to start off the Fall semester with new and dedicated leadership and we are looking forward to accomplishing the goals that we have set for ourselves in the hopes of making UNF a better place for all Ospreys. As we move forward, we assure that we will maintain accountability, transparency and professionalism for our student leaders both internally, and by listening to the students we serve. We thank and appreciate the Student Body for allowing us the opportunity to grow, as well as the time to heal. We are excited to serve and look forward to a fantastic year back!”

As the fall semester begins and students return to campus, time will tell if things will change within Student Government.

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