The Facts: Student Senate is in the process of approving the NC Equality Act this Wednesday, which would issue a stance opposing SB 514.

Our Opinion: Whether the entire student body agrees or disagrees with this bill, it is not the Student Senate’s place to issue a generalized political stance of the University.

While the intended actions of the Student Senate are of good intent, they will be setting an unwanted precedent of having the University take a stance on political issues. Student Government is in place to govern student-related issues on campus, not to address a political issue on behalf of the student population.

As stated in the Senate’s “summary of purpose,” the NC Equality Act is “to publicly support all N.C . State students while discrimination is proposed to be written in our state Constitution.” While Student Government is the governing body of N.C . State, they should not take a political stance on state and national issues for the entire student body.

This amendment has been on many students’ minds, as well as in our state’s political arena. It is not the Student Senate’s job to force a stance of a certain group on the entire student body. Because of this, the bill goes against its original intentions of encouraging diversity of points of view throughout our state.

While SB 514 is a politically straining issue for our state, it is not the Student Senate’s responsibility to act as the surrogate opinion for the student body. If an individual does not approve of the amendment and would like to take action, it is the individual’s responsibility—not Student Senate’s.

If Student Senate cares to get involved in this political matter they should do it locally. They should create events with the support of other student organizations to spread awareness about the issue on campus. This type of action would engage students on campus who would want to be involved in this political movement, while allowing those who don’t agree to not be involved. Although Wednesday’s forum was a good start, it did not include an opposing opinion.

This bill focuses so much on the liberal opinions of the students that it leaves out a more conservative view. The Senate should find other ways to get students with the same opinion involved and encourage them to take action, but when it comes to speaking on the entire behalf of N.C . State University, the Senate should stick to collegiate issues.