One of the traditional roles of the senior class at Dartmouth College has been to lead. From athletic teams to extracurricular organizations, seniors are typically the ones to blaze a trail for younger students to follow.
But if the apathy of the soon-to-be senior Class of 1998 is any indication, the College may face a serious student leadership crisis starting in September.
Currently, no one is on the ballot for president or vice president of the Class of 1998. After three years of service to her class as president, Randi Barnes '98 intends to step down, and after all she has done, she is certainly entitled. But instead of another '98 stepping up and offering to fill the void, the ballot is blank.
The dearth of initiative on the part of the '98s is alarming. While five members of the Class of 1997 -- this year's senior class -- were on the ballot for Student Assembly president last spring, just one '98 is running for Assembly president next month.
Even more astonishing, just 19 members the Class of 1998 applied for 20 spots in the Green Key Society last year, while a staggering 70 members of the Class of 1999 seek these same 20 spots this year.
In fact, across the ballot for next month's elections, the juniors in contention for leadership positions are scarce. But this is hardly surprising -- for if no one is willing to lead the Class of 1998, who will lead the rest of campus?
Perhaps Barnes is correct that many eligible '98s simply assumed she would seek re-election and therefore did not pursue the Class of 1998 presidency. But the lack of interest in leadership in other organizations indicates a more serious problem: that apathy runs deep among the soon-to-be seniors.
It is imperative that more '98s step forward and mount write-in campaigns for leadership positions, especially for the Class of 1998 presidency and vice presidency. Otherwise, next year's senior class, once labeled "the brightest class ever to attend Dartmouth," may become known as the "do nothing class."
