They were earnest and qualified, with multiple years in student government-which struck voters as an unscrubbable establishment taint. The stench still lingered in January when the election for GUSA’s next president and vice president began.Īt first, only one ticket was running: a pair of insiders, Thomas Leonard and Nirvana Khan. Student government was apparently so ineffective, so disconnected from campus life, that it couldn’t even whip the votes to self-destruct. But in a blow to GUSA’s already dismal reputation, the referendum didn’t draw sufficient turnout to pass. The plan, I guess, was to scrap the Georgetown University Student Association and create a more functional government-a crackerjack proposition among the student body, who voted for “Abolish GUSA” three to one. The first thing to know about Georgetown’s student government is that last November, when it tried to abolish itself, it failed. Concerned, I spent my summer drenched in Georgetown politics, catching the vibes of tomorrow’s overlords, all to answer a fearsome question: What if the worst is yet to come? It’s a spooky thing to contemplate, that a crew of baby politicos accidentally reran 2016-the election that quasi-broke America and never seems to end. The candidate with the most votes doesn’t win. One side fails to consolidate, assuming their opponent is a farce. A charismatic outsider draws disaffected voters to their cause. A flawed establishment candidate becomes a magnet for voters’ ire. Take the school’s most recent election-and stop me if this sounds familiar. And when voters hate their government, odd things can happen at the polls. These days, the campus loathes student government. Upon this lawn have strolled scores of future senators and Congress members, ambassadors and cabinet secretaries, operatives and lobbyists, plus a President, a Supreme Court justice, and a smattering of leaders abroad.īut if the political future of our nation resides at Georgetown, then something alarming is afoot. Year after year, a ridiculous number of Georgetown students believe they’re destined for power. When you pass through the iron gates of Georgetown University-into a lush quad of Gothic spires and tolling bells-you enter a spawning ground for elite politicos, one of the most fertile in the world.
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