Several student body president candidates said yesterday that the Student Assembly does not encourage the entry of reform-minded students into the campaign for Dartmouth's highest office of student government.
According to Janos Marton '04, a former Assembly member who is now running for student body president, "a lot of people in Student Assembly are afraid of change."
"You can definitely sense hostility from some of the Assembly insiders," said candidate and Assembly member Karim Mohsen '03. "It is like we are trying to violate the established order of things."
Marton and Mohsen, who along with Eric Bussey '01, Tara Maller '03 and Michael Perry '03 are in the race for the presidency, also accused the Assembly of favoritism in endorsing some candidates at the expense of others.
"There's a feeling that one candidate has been supported by some execs," Mohsen said. "You can sense that Perry was appointed to be student body president."
Perry replied that although those on the Assembly "generally want someone who knows how to do the job," he had not chosen to run until this term, and that the elections are never an issue discussed behind closed doors.
"This was never a plan from the start," he said. "Just saying that attacks the integrity of a lot of people who work very hard for the Assembly" and who support a wide range of ideas, Perry said.
Marton, Mohsen and Bussey -- each of whom is running on a platform advocating significant structural change to the Assembly -- portrayed themselves in interviews with The Dartmouth as outsiders in the election process.
Marton said he had been given strong warning signals from some Assembly members that his decision to run would not be greeted with equanimity.
"It's been very clear from the beginning that [Student Body President Molly Stutzman '02] didn't want me to run," he said. "Maybe they thought I was a viable candidate and felt threatened by that."
Stutzman replied that the Student Assembly remains committed to impartiality and fairness in the elections process.
"I know all the candidates to varying degrees, and it's very important to me that everyone gets an equal shot at the process and a chance to voice their ideas," she said.
Accusations that the Assembly plays favorites are understandable misinterpretations on the part of those not closely involved with the organization, Stutzman said.
Stutzman said that the Assembly does not discuss elections issues either in general meetings or at the closed executive meetings, and that the Elections Planning and Advisory Committee -- which oversees the elections process and hears complaints -- is deliberately composed of members from several different student organizations.
"I think we have done what we can to be a neutral group so that all candidates feel comfortable voicing their concerns," she said.
Stutzman admitted that there are "certain candidates whom SA members know better because they have worked with them in the past."
Additionally, she said many members will naturally be loathe to support a candidate whose platform contains personal attacks or which is otherwise strongly anti-Assembly in tone.
Perry agreed that "there's certainly a sense that people on the Assembly favor those who have been on Assembly before," but cautioned against making generalizations about Assembly members, whom he termed a "very diverse" group of individuals who support a range of candidates and have varying opinions on how the Assembly should be run.
Bussey claimed that the Assembly's "lack of openness to new visions" represents a "detriment to democracy," which in turn limits the effectiveness of the organization.
While Mohsen shared the perception that some members had displayed favoritism, he stressed that many more had been impartial and stated that his goals were to encourage the participation of voters who had never previously taken interest in the Assembly.
"There are honest members who can set aside their sense of entitlement," he said. "All the reform candidates are saying is that the way things are right now does not work, and does not reach out to students."
