Overnight Conventions

Dear Members of the Junior Statesmen Foundation Board, It has come to my attention that this year, overnight conventions are seeing a severe increase in the cost to attend. This deeply disturbs me both as an Expansion Agent for the Northeast State Cabinet and a member of the Junior State of America. These rising prices make it difficult for many students to attend, including myself. Furthermore, they come as quite a shock to chapters I am attempting to expand to, making expansion efforts much more difficult than in the past. Expansion is known to be one of the most difficult jobs on regional cabinets. As an Expansion Agent, I have heard every excuse in the universe, and starting new chapters is already a very difficult task. The rise in the price of overnight conventions makes this nearly impossible. Overnight conventions are arguably the best experience a JSA member can have, and bringing new chapters to these is a vital part of the expansion process. They show new JSA members what JSA is truly about, and make chapters more eager to participate in JSA activities. Also, seeing how many other great chapters are out there, pushes them to do better. Overnight conventions are a crucial part of JSA, but nobody will be able to attend at the prices they are being set at. …show more content…
Also, the rise in prices is particularly discouraging for chapters with lower income from attending. This is unfair, as the point of JSA is to get students active and involved in government, regardless of economic background. The steep increase in prices destroys the whole purpose of JSA, and it is simply wrong to impose such high fees on chapters that barely have their feet off the ground. I implore you to make the right decision, because otherwise the future of JSA does not look very