The Faces of Student Leadership
Former A.S. President Joshua Elizondo and Former A.S. Vice President Dominic Prendergast sit down with The Corsair to talk about their experience in student leadership.
On March 28, The Corsair sat down with Joshua Elizondo, the President of Santa Monica College (SMC) Associated Students (A.S.), and Dominic Prendergast, the Vice President of A.S., in the Student Services Center to discuss the responsibilities of their positions and the challenges A.S. has faced in a virtual environment.
A.S. President Joshua Elizondo (Left) and A.S. Vice President Dominic Prendergast (Right) gathered for an on-camera interview in the SMC student services center in Santa Monica, Calif. on Monday, March 28 (Maxim Elramsisy | The Corsair)
Despite a student population of nearly 30,000 at SMC, the school’s past A.S. elections have received abysmal voter turnout. In 2018, 1,734 students voted – around 5 percent of the total number of enrolled students. The number rose up to 2,327 students in 2019, but when the pandemic swept the nation in 2020 and pushed everyone online, participation fell drastically, with 490 students voting. In 2021, only 435 students voted.“It is unacceptable that I was elected by 300 and some students when there's a population of 30,000 here,” A.S. President Elizondo said.
Elizondo, who previously served as SMC Student Trustee in 2020, shared his opinion on the reason for the lack of student participation. “I don't think that that is just because of the virtual world,” he said. “It shows that the student engagement on campus and the directors asking for voting, and asking for people to be in-person and talking about voting was what was the driving force.”
He argued that students should not be the only voice advocating for themselves. Instead, he thinks the administration needs to step up with their encouragement of student participation.“And I felt like that was – while it is great that students advocate for themselves, it shouldn't be on the students to have students be the participation at the college, the college needs to also step up.”
A.S. Vice President Prendergast also voiced his concern over the lack of student engagement. "Associated Students is a beautiful part of our student community, but I feel in some ways, is disconnected from the student body, because students aren't aware of everything that we do and who we are, and our purpose, and our mission,” he said. “I think that's evident in the amount of students that vote in elections,"
As their terms come to an end, both student leaders cautioned their successors not to enter their positions overconfident or overly ambitious for change over their short term.
“I would recommend to my successors not to rock the boat too hard,” Elizondo said.
He also offered advice to those who approach more contentious topics in their campaigns. “There are several candidates at the moment that have spoken about many issues that are very controversial,” he said. “I do think that while you're in your position, it's one year, you don't have a long time to transform the college into change.”
While Prendergast suggested that ‘rocking the boat’ isn’t always a bad thing, he urged against making changes and decisions that would be in promotion of one’s leadership and self-serving, instead of being altruistic.
He urged candidates to consider all students, not just themselves when making decisions with the incoming Board.“Be able to work collaboratively, and to take on Board feedback, and welcome advice and suggestions that you don't want to hear as equally as the ones that you do want to hear,” he said.
There are currently eight positions on the ballot during this election, which includes the position of A.S. President. A.S. Vice President, along with four others, will become vacant after the election ends, as there are no candidates running for those roles.
The election runs from Monday, April 4 at 12 a.m., to Thursday, April 7 at 11:59 p.m. The results will be announced on Friday, April 8 at 9 a.m.
Watch the interview on Youtube @TheCorsairOnline here.