Over the last several years, students have increasingly questioned Student Assembly's relevance. Past presidential candidates often promised more than they could possibly deliver, undermining the Assembly's credibility. Nonetheless, the Assembly can, and should, play a very important role on this campus, liaising with various student groups and between students and administrators. Dartmouth needs a student body president who is cognizant of the limitations of the position's power and will focus on fulfilling the Assembly's core functions instead of pursuing extraneous and unrealistic pipe dreams. With these considerations in mind, we believe Adrian Ferrari '14 is best suited to lead the Assembly over this next, crucial year in Dartmouth's history.
In July, Philip Hanlon will become the College's 18th president. It is important that the student body president be able to effectively represent undergraduate students' interests. Above all, this will require the Assembly's leader to be willing to make a significant investment of time and effort into the position. Of the four candidates, Ferrari appears most willing to make this commitment. Currently on the government foreign study program in Washington, D.C., Ferrari has traveled to Hanover for the week in order to campaign. He has also promised to remain in Hanover this summer if elected.
Ferrari is well-suited to the position for three further reasons. He has past leadership experience, both as an Office of Pluralism and Leadership intern and an undergraduate advisor. He is pragmatic and appears to understand the limitations on the authority of the student body president. In his presidential statement on these pages ("Ferrari: Presidential Candidate Statement," Apr. 11), Ferrari fully acknowledged that previous presidents have failed to fulfil unrealistic campaign promises and promised to not repeat this mistake. His plans to institute a student-created diversity program are a strong and practical way to improve the campus climate.
We remain skeptical of Ferrari's plans to increase cooperation between the Assembly, Palaeopitus and the Inter-Community Council, but appreciate the overall message of improving collaboration. Should he be elected as president, we encourage Ferrari to more fully flesh out this proposal before implementing it.
Making the decision to endorse Ferrari was difficult, as we believe that any of the presidential candidates could potentially be a good student body leader. We hope that, regardless of who wins on Monday, all four candidates pledge to be actively involved in next year's Assembly. The student body needs committed and qualified individuals to represent its interests.
