Dear Editor,
The issue of whether or not football should be brought back to ESTU has been a hot topic of debate both on and off campus. I was recently made aware of the fact that some community members have been complaining that they did not have a vote in bringing back ETSU football.
Upon hearing this, I could not help but think back to the early times of our country, when England placed taxes and restrictions on the colonies without giving them any say in the matter.
Although England felt that “virtual representation” was enough to justify acts such as the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765, New Englanders did not want to have taxes forced upon them and saw this as unacceptable.
Acts like these may seem like a ridiculous intrusion on liberty today but allowing community members and alumni to participate in the recent vote would have in essence had the same effect on students.
Students voted whether or not they were in support of raising student fees to fund a football program. If community members had been allowed to vote without having to commit financially, this would have been a modern-day form of taxation without representation.
-Elizabeth Rand

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