Democratic Disappointment

I am a senior at a small private university in central Texas. At this university I am a part of a national service organization. For now, I am omitting some details because they are not relevant to the purpose of this entry. One particular member of this organization had a somewhat strained and erratic relationship with some of the other members and at times did not exemplify behaviors that are consistent with our purposes. Two and a half years ago he decided to cease being a part of the organization by not paying his annual dues thereby becoming inactive. At the time there was some resentment and confusion toward this member for no longer wanting to be a part of our organization.

In the past six months, however, this former member has exhibited a significant improvement in his actions. He began to reveal himself as dependable, hard working, and sacrificial for the good of the greater organization that we serve, traits which before were hit or miss. I, for one, have been impressed by his overall consistency of late. He recently expressed interest in once again becoming a part of our organization. According to national policy once a person becomes inactive in the organization he/she must submit a written request, receive a 75% positive vote from the active members, gain sponsor approval, and pay the annual dues to become active again. After talking briefly with this individual, he informed me that he was willing to do all these things and I became open and even a little excited about the possibility of him becoming active again. He submitted his written request (along with food which is always a plus), and we discussed it in our weekly meeting. There were some mixed emotions about the subject but I had an optimistic outlook on the situation up until it was time to vote. The vote failed. It needed a 75% positive vote and only reached 50%.

I am of course in favor of democracy and I do not wish to control a vote. Individuals have a fundamental right to vote the way they choose but I was slightly disturbed by the outcome of this particular vote. I was disturbed by the grudges that were still held and the lack of forgiveness for one's past actions which in my opinion were certainly forgivable. I was disturbed that while some completely ignore their own faults they are quick to point out the past faults of others. I was also disturbed that while this individual's past mistakes were still being scrutinized his more recent accomplishments were going largely ignored. That was how the vote turned out, that was democracy at work, and despite being president of this organization there was nothing I could do about it. It begs the question, "How long does it take for our mistakes to no longer haunt us?"