Across Florida, universities share the existence of student government. Though most share a structure that mirrors the United States government, not all student governments look the same structurally or culturally.
Florida State University
Florida State University’s Student Government Association is composed of an executive branch, a student senate and a supreme court. Unlike UF, FSU SGA also includes a Congress of Graduate Students, which serves to enhance the university experience for postgraduates; a Campus Recreation Board, which focuses on recreation facilities and programs; and a Student Union Board, which manages FSU’s student union.
FSU SGA also differs from UF SG in that its Fall and Spring elections are exclusively conducted through an online ballot system. Additionally, UF’s SG budget is around $24 million, whereas FSU’s is approximately $14 million, which is separate from its Congress of Graduate Students’ $1.2 million budget.
Speaker of the Congress of Graduate Students Jack Rowan, a 22-year-old FSU law student, said that while FSU and UF student governments are structurally similar, their political cultures are starkly different. Rowan described FSU’s SGA political climate as passive to the point of excess.
“There isn’t even that airing of political differences,” he said. “A lot of it is very ‘Let’s have a conversation, let’s do this behind closed doors.’”
According to Rowan, SGA members are hesitant to rely on courts or public debates in settling political issues. He said senators themselves are unlikely to pass legislation, or even vote on it unless they know beforehand that it will have strong support across both the legislative and executive branches.
“The problem is…there’s not really a point where people are willing to say talking has stopped working,” Rowan said. “If the talking doesn’t work, you’re encouraged to just keep talking, and talking into the abyss basically.”
Rowan said the differences between FSU’s ruling Forward Party and the minority Surge Party are minimal, with both parties dedicated to political cooperation and improving the student experience at the university. But there are some distinctions between them. For instance, Surge sought to add Plan B to reproductive care vending machines, whereas Forward did not.
Rowan described UF SG as much more aggressive and sometimes more impactful than FSU SGA. He noted conflicts over the recent UF Fall election map as especially noticeable.
“There have been several jokes about the 37-person off-campus [district],” he said, “which is why we do our [elections] based on college — because you can’t gerrymander that. I think a lot of people look at UF, and kind of just are thankful that we’re not as insane.”
University of Miami
More than 300 miles from Gainesville, the University of Miami, a private college, has a student government of its own. Much like UF and FSU, its structure follows the American government’s three-branch model.
However, UM is also distinct from other universities in a number of ways.
According to UM Student Government Chief of Staff Paul Lohmann, a 22-year-old UM psychology and business technology senior, UM SG is heavily centered around the executive branch’s executive boards. Some of those boards include the Board of Comms, the Academic Liaison Council and the Campus Liaison Council, which serve to discuss campus issues, hold discussions with faculty and advocate for student interests.
Lohmann said part of what makes UM unique is that each board is large enough to accommodate multiple subcommittees.
“Through those subcommittees is where we get a lot of our work done, because we have so many people here that are out supporting not only their own events and initiatives but they’re coming to other student events,” Lohmann said.
Lohmann said UM SG is committed to fostering communication between students and their university in order to give student interests a voice.
Some UM SG projects include improvements to student dining options, expanded transportation options for students who need to take transit to UM’s off-campus stadium on game days and greater cooperation with Greek life, which Lohmann said is currently disjointed.
Most members of SG tend to work together in their shared SG suite, he added. The main issue he identified was that there are so many different positions that members may not have the ability to get familiar with everybody.
UM SG recently hosted delegates from Broward College Student Government to help them learn from UM’s model.
University of North Florida
Unlike its fellow northern colleges, the University of North Florida Student Government, based in Jacksonville, has a much smaller budget to match its smaller student population: $6.2 million and 16,000 students, respectively. UNF’s constitution itself established a student government at the university, whereas most universities have no requirement for the existence of a student government.
Mitchell Aarons, a 20-year-old UNF political science junior, has served as a senator in UNF SG and currently chairs the majority party, Soar. He said the majority of UNF SG’s focus is on club funding and management.
“We’re not doing anything crazy,” Aarons said. “Student government’s biggest mission is to provide funding for different clubs on campus.”
Speaking on the political climate at UNF, Aarons described it as “nothing like UF.”
Aarons speculated that part of UNF SG’s cooler political climate comes from the fact that the school is “a commuter-driven campus.”
“It’s really easy to work with people that you see every day, and we’re all running into the same problems,” he said. “Everyone’s pretty much gotten screwed over not getting housing their upperclassmen years.”
Speaking about UF SG, Aarons said, “It’s something special you’ve got over there.” But, he added, he admired and envied UF SG for “how much influence UF Student Government can have over policy on campus.”
Because UNF SG lacks the same degree of financial and governmental power as UF SG, Aarons said a large degree of its influence comes from reputation.
Contact Avery Parker at aparker@alligator.org. Follow him on X @AveryParke98398.
Avery Parker is a third-year English and History major covering university affairs for The Alligator. Outside of reporting, Avery spends his time doting on his cats, reading, and listening to music by the Manwolves.
