Congratulations. You have just been elected Student Assembly President.
Which ideas are you going to listen to? To whom are you going to turn in establishing yourself as an effective and legitimate leader? Where are you going to draw the interest, commitment and expertise that you will need to strengthen the Student Assembly and complete the projects you promised you would attempt?
After three weeks of campaigning, it is clear that many people have a lot of interesting and worthwhile ideas. Let's face it -- everyone who has been involved in this campaign, as candidates, campaigners, or voters, has varied and valuable skills which they can bring to the table and use to serve the student body. Student government is not and should never be about the people who win elections. It is, rather, about the ideas that we develop and the goals that we share. The spring election is a public discussion of the expectations we have for Dartmouth, and the direction that we, as a community of students, want the College to take.
Leadership does not come with a title. Rather, it stems from the ability to work with other people, maintain an educated perspective on a broad range of issues, and shoulder the responsibility for making the right things happen. To be a leader, you first must be a communicator. And that means listening to and working with the competition.
As president, you will be the voice of the undergraduate student body. This means that we, the students, have chosen you to listen to everyone. Do not allow lingering competition from the election taint or prohibit your competitors' good efforts and intentions. Despite this election's outcome, you need to learn to work together. If you cannot, then none of you will be worth anything more than the type you put on your resume, and none of you will ever fully represent the interests of the student body.
If you care about the Student Assembly, and plan to take this job seriously, then setting aside your differences and cooperating with your competition is an issue that cannot be ignored. It is imperative that you and the other candidates continue to be involved in one capacity or another. Adopting the ideas developed by other candidates, and working with them to realize their full potential, would be one of the greatest services you as president could do for the student body. The Student Assembly is not an individual competition. It is a team sport. Your job in the coming year is to build and coach a team of leaders. Remember that four or eight people pulling their oars together can move with greater power and stability than can any single rower.
As a student leader, you must be willing both to be the educator and to be educated. You cannot hope to share your vision with the student body if you close yourself off to the ideas and opportunities that others have envisioned. You need to learn from them, work with them, and draw upon their skills, passion and commitment to others. The mark of a true leader is not what they themselves can undertake and envision, but rather the quality and energy of the people who join that leader in making a shared vision a reality.
Good luck.
