The Double Standard of Leadership

This post on Julie's blog makes me think. In fact, I have been thinking for a long time about this higher standard, or is it a double standard, that student leaders, all leaders are held to.

I am a student leader on campus. Great, but that does not mean that I don't have opinions of my own. Not everything I say will be in line with Senate's stances. Not everything I do is related to Senate. I have views on campus affairs, the world, and politics. We all do. We are 25 individuals, not a singular blob. None of us are perfect.

Why then, does it sometimes feel like we have to be? I've often thought twice before expressing a personal opinion, because I wondered what it might look like. I've even thought twice about what I post on this blog, because god knows how many people around BSU read it.(Hence the well displayed copyright notice) Now, I'm not prone to say controversial or inapproprite things in the first place, but that's not the point. The point is I continually watch what I say, much more so than I think someone who is not a student leader might.

And now it's come to the point that the President of our organization has to take the "apology bullet" for something another student leader said. It would be one thing if the student was currently a member of the group, but he's not. So why in the world should she take heat? He is not her responsibility.

We are always under the microscope. Does this mean the Berne you know is fake? No. Does it mean I'm censored? Not really. But am I guarded? Yes. Should I have to be? Probably not, but that is life I guess.