Dartmouth is changing. The student body as a whole is recognizing the undercurrents tugging at the community and we are facing up to the challenge of pulling together on individual and group levels. Turnout at events like the town meeting, rally, vigil and many group meetings as well as dialogues among individuals and organizations show the that many people consider "community" and its status quo important to their everyday life. Student groups are seeking to reconstruct themselves: redefining their purposes and reaching out to the whole campus. Organizations are critically examining their role in the community. Next year is a crucial time because Student Assembly, as the most powerful student lobby, needs to channel this energy in the right directions. The Assembly must embrace and encourage this sense of unity and desire to propel on a more pro-active, pro-student, pro-understanding path or the efforts of last term, and this term will wither into a mere memory.
This year, the Assembly has stabilized internally and established legitimacy in the eyes of the administration and student body. This stability allows us to take the Assembly a step further in two directions: to foster communication and interaction among groups and to serve as a force to lobby the college and administration.
The creation of a community and understanding within it comes not only from our intellectual growth, but also from our social circumstances. When Dartmouth does not lay grounds for such interaction to occur, how do they expect students to break down the barriers that isolate them? Encouraging events and places like a high-tech club scene party several times a term and a coffeehouse open past midnight helps create an environment conducive to more social and intellectual interaction.
Furthermore, all groups deserve a common social space that has a central location. Often, organizations have great events that take place in Brace Commons or the Dartmouth Outing Club House and distance limits attendance. Collis Common Ground isn't easily available and Webster Hall is only used for special occasions. A social space in a central location would not only make it accessible and appealing for students to attend, but would also provide a unifying location for student activities.
Internally, the Assembly can contribute to the fostering of community and interaction by setting up a "Building Bridges" fund where the Assembly allocates money specifically for projects of different groups. Many groups complain about the different ways in which COSO does not fulfill their financial needs for beneficial events. This student run fund would continue throughout the year and would provide organizations an opportunity to create projects that is needed at Dartmouth, and intellectually and socially enlightening for the students.
Dartmouth students chose to attend Dartmouth because they want a school that will foster their intellectual growth, a growth that extends beyond conventional coursework. We have already begun with College Courses. Student Assembly should be responsible in continuing and expanding this intellectual outlet, extending their power to pushing departments to improve their curriculum. The Assembly helped preserve the Latino classes this year, and should continue to assure these and other academic options are available for all students. We cannot force students to be aware, but if we pave the path for students to explore diverse ideas and concepts, they will seek it out on their own.
Another aspect that plagues our lives are unnecessary fines. We spend hours working part-time only to see our money fall back into the school. How can we foster intellectual growth and social development if students are burdened with the task of paying unnecessary fines?
Finally, if we are to enrich this "community," we should have ORL guarantee housing for those who wish to stay on campus. Sophomores should not be forced to find housing off campus if they desire to remain in the dormitories. The school should recognize that with staying on campus, we are creating a space for social and intellectual interaction.
These issues are those that affect all students on this campus. We are all bound by the problems that face us as Dartmouth students. I am running to serve the changing student body because I feel I have the resources to lead the Assembly. Winter term made me hopeful that Dartmouth can actually rise from being an apathetic student body to an active student body. If perhaps you do not know my name -- it is because I have always worked on a local level. If you hear my name now, it is because I am asking for an opportunity to take my experience in the minority community and in the Greek system to help push Dartmouth in the right direction.
