My decision to resign as Student Assembly President is a well thought-out reaction to an entire term's events. It is not a question of my capabilities as a leader, or because things have just gotten too tough -- it is the way I can best be an agent of change and a result of the beliefs and visions I hold. Many will say "I told you so," or label me a quitter, but I know that this decision has the ultimate approval of the one person it must -- myself.
I have buffered student, administration and faculty opinion of the Assembly this term in attempting to keep conflict and infighting contained. I spend hours every week in conflict mediation, trying to enable members to understand that self-interest should not guide their actions, but instead a genuine commitment to both the Assembly and to the student body to whom they pledged both representation and loyalty.
I have attempted to be fair, direct, honest and impartial in my leadership, never denying that I have beliefs and political views, but always willing to add any item to the Assembly's agenda that is for the good of students, no matter what the ideology. In return I have received disrespect, dishonesty and behavior that is completely inappropriate for a student at Dartmouth, let alone for a self-described leader and representative.
First and foremost, my decision to leave office centers around the empowerment of women.
Week after week in General Assembly, Executive committee, Standing committee and Task Force meetings, the women leading the Assembly are granted no respect and often abused. Members walk out of meetings to kill quorums, interrupt and shout, disrupt meetings and say offensive things, and misrepresent what is being said in meetings, provoking harassment against other members.
At what point does it stop? As a leader of women on this campus, when do I say enough, I am worth more than the way I am being treated?
How can I continually enter into these meetings, where no respect is granted for either the position I hold, or me as an individual, and thereby tell women that you continue to suffer and sacrifice while taking the high road?
Because to not take the high road, and stand up for myself as a person and woman, means sinking to the level of my abusers, which I find unacceptable.
I have come to the point where I want to tell women that they have to respect themselves and therefore demand to be treated in a certain way. I want them to understand that to sacrifice is in our natures as sisters, wives and friends, and it is so often the case that because we care so much, we stay.
I will not commit the hypocrisy of preaching the ideals of self-respect to women and yet act out the same behaviors I say are unacceptable. I am worth more than the way I am treated as a Student Assembly President, and I can no longer have self-respect if I continue in this position without fighting back, which is impossible because the Constitution binds my hands and leaves me powerless -- I will not remain in a situation where I am not empowered.
Dartmouth needs to examine the way women leaders are treated on this campus. The Assembly vice-president, six of eight committee chairs, and eight of eleven task force chairs are women, yet there is not one women leader on Student Assembly who hasn't felt uncomfortable or hasn't been attacked.
Why is it that after 22 years of co-education women are still being made to feel uncomfortable? Why is it that as a woman, I was not granted the initial respect my position deserves? Why at such high personal costs do so many women continue to put themselves on the line only to be questioned and criticized? The issue of women in leadership has been examined in comparison to men in leadership, but the issue of women and sacrifice has never been paid the attention it is due.
While I know that I can continue to make the Assembly productive, I cannot continue at the expense of the women leading the Assembly. But the Assembly as an organization needs to be reviewed.
The behavior of the Assembly is clearly reflective of last year's antics. Younger members watch veterans behave in ways that they come to find appropriate and mimic, infighting and disrupting meetings.
I have numerous times addressed these attitudes and some have changed, but those who refuse to leave behind their self-interest continue to behave in very inappropriate ways, unwilling to recognize the higher good of the organization or student body, and there are far too many to enable the Assembly to run smoothly.
If I stay, I see no reason for many members to change their behavior. By resigning, I am making it known that if the Assembly is to survive, or maintain any credible reputation, the antics must stop.
It is very important to me to take into account the confidence and hope students granted me by my election as president in the spring. I do not feel I am shirking or taking that responsibility lightly. But I am unable to represent them in the Assembly because most of my time is spent mediating conflict rather than working myself for the issues I believe in and the people I represent.
I believe the students who voted for me would support me in my attempt to change the antics of the Assembly and shake the complacent enough to make them examine women in leadership.
By staying I comprise my self-respect and set an example of sacrifice. By leaving I teach women to value their self-worth. In many ways I am scared of the repercussions this action will invite, but I must stand by what I believe in and I will never let fear stop me from taking action. I am standing by my responsibility and continuing as president until November 21, which will mark the end of the Ivy Council and the end of the term for the Assembly.
I have confidence in Vice President Rukmini Sichitiu's ability to take over what we have begun. Rukmini has been of wonderful support as a friend, and it is my greatest hope that in my leaving, members will come to understand the behavior necessary to call themselves representatives of the student body, and that without the infighting, she will be able to keep the Assembly productive and pro-active.
In my Convocation speech I spoke about crossing lines of difference and learning from others, yet I am the leader of an organization that divides itself in a destructive manner along political and other self-interested lines. I do not see how I can be a leader of change on this campus if I remain part of it.
I leave in order to impact the most change that I can. To serve as an example to women in valuing their worth and not letting others disempower them or continually disrespect them. We will always care, but at some point we have to care enough about ourselves to let go and pass the torch on to those who will come after.
who use the Assembly as a tool for their own political gain.
