On Feb. 17, 2016, the Student Government Student Senate debated a bill that would have placed a referendum on the ballot last week that would have authorized a senate seat designated to represent International Students. That bill failed 13-20. Some opposing arguments from the majority were: (1) Nothing is stopping International Students from being elected to senate, and (2) How many other “special interest” groups would ask for a seat, and where would it end?

On the first argument, we can look at the UROC (United Residents of Off-Campus) senate race, where there were nine seats and twelve candidates on the ballot last week. The two candidates whose names sounded the most “ethnic” (read: not of European origin), Hamad Abbas and Abhijit Patwa, finished in the bottom three and outside of being elected. Although I am not familiar with all of Mr. Patwa’s accomplishments, I know he was the Finance Director of Student Government from 2014-15 and he endorsed the Staudt-West campaign. His endorsement was even promoted by that campaign. Typically those that actively support a winning presidential campaign will benefit in the election. The other UROC senate candidates that openly supported the Staudt-West campaign finished 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, but somehow Mr. Patwa finished 11th.

I am not just aware of Mr. Abbas’ accomplishments, but also his character. I have been highly impressed with his work as the current Finance Director and for the universal respect he has by others. Before this year he was a two-term senator and in that second year he was elected by his peers as the “Senator of the Year.” If there is nothing stopping qualified and good individuals from being elected to senate, then someone explain to me how Mr. Abbas finished in 10th place.

It would seem that we still have a long way to go at Iowa State University when it comes to accepting diversity and ensuring leadership opportunities on an equal playing field. The narrative all this school year at ISU has been finding ways to address race, ethnicity, and xenophobia. Here at Iowa State University, it seems that someone that does not have an “American” sounding name can lead to students not using one of their nine votes to consider him or her. This is not a problem that is exclusive to Iowa State University, but is one we need to address.

The two ideas that I have heard recently to improve diversity on this campus involve a “Diversity and Inclusion Task Force” or the creation of a “more formal governing body” for International Students. The task force concept does not offer any real alternatives that can start the process of greater integration immediately and the latter seems to have a “separate but equal” vibe.

The second point people made against the referendum proposal was, “Where would it end?” Would there then be a senate seat for Native-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos, black students, LGBT students, students with disabilities and veterans? The University of Iowa has all of the seats just mentioned and I wish they were not necessary; however, our recent election results lead me to believe that we might need to create more opportunities to ensure greater diversity and proper representation on this campus.

I am starting to lose faith that Student Government will implement real initiatives that can improve the environment of diversity on campus. Since a top-to-bottom approach may not work, I call on college and residence councils to help with this initiative to improve diversity on our Student Senate. It is not your responsibility or fault, but you have the opportunity to give new chances to those previously overlooked. When a senate seat opens up (which will happen throughout the next school year), look outside the box and consider those that you may have not considered before. This is not just about International Students or minorities. This campus is 43% women, but the senate makeup of women is far below that. As the results of the elections stand now, the gender makeup of senate will have an ever greater disparity than last year as over 80% of those elected to Senate last week were men. I was elected to be a Graduate College Student Senator and at the GPSS (Graduate and Professional Student Senate) meeting on Monday, March 28, I plan to surrender my seat to another student that will improve the diversity of Student Senate. International Students makeup about 37% of all graduate students, so I hope that one of these students will step up because I think they will better represent the underrepresented International Students on campus than I could.