What is the American University Student Government? What do they do? Do they hold real power? Are they truly representative of the AU student body? What does the student body think? These are some of the questions that AWOL’s multimedia team sought to answer this semester by diving into the complexities of AUSG.

This comes after the annual fall semester senate election, which saw the highest voter turnout in AU history at just about 29% of the entire undergraduate population, according to election data published by the university.

Some believe that this signifies a shift in the right direction for AUSG by allowing more student voices to be heard. AUSG Vice President Julia Comino commented on the effort the organization has put into increasing voting.

“Going to people and being like, ‘Hey, these votes matter, because it helps us show that this many students want this thing, be- cause we’re taking it to the Board of Trustees meeting. We’re taking that referendum, we’re giving them the results,’” Camino
said. “We’re trying to just encourage that through word of mouth.”

But non-affiliated students still expressed concern about AUSG as a whole, specifically regarding their efficacy. Claire
Phillips, a senior at AU, said she doesn’t believe that AUSG has the capacity to make real change.

“I think it’s a good way to filter public opinion on something from the general campus but I don’t know how much power they have in actually affecting the change that people voted for,” Phillips said.

Senior Sofia Rodriguez, who supports many of the referendums AUSG has recently passed, echoed this sentiment.

“It’s frustrating because it also gives [the AUSG senators] a bad look,” Rodriguez said. “It makes them look like they don’t do much when they’re obviously advocating for change and passing resolutions that students want, but AU is not upholding their end of it all.”