People have told Janos Marton '04 that being Student Body President will look good on his resume, but Marton says he won't capitalize on his political experience anytime soon.
After graduation, he hopes to be a "wandering writer" and finish the novel he is currently working on. The novel "takes place in 2050 and describes the collapse of the American Empire," something Marton, a history major, says is inevitable.
"The Roman Empire was looking pretty good, too, at around 200 A.D. And look what happened to them," he exclaimed, suddenly abandoning his usual soft-spoken and relaxed demeanor.
Not your typical starry-eyed author of the next Great American Novel, but Marton was not a typical Student Body President candidate either. His dark hair usually sticks wildly in all directions, he wears revolutionary clothing in the style of Ch Guevara and his inspiration to run came not from some revered past president, but from Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail."
Marton represented an eclectic collection of viewpoints that fascinated voters from all walks of campus and ultimately won him the student body presidency.
A Chi Gam brother and Panarchy member, co-founder of the Dartmouth Greens and writer for the Dartmouth Free Press, active environmentalist and passionate playwright, Marton believes he appeals to a broad spectrum of students.
With endorsements from several campus publications and votes from both pro-Greek and anti-Greek students, he said he succeeded in accomplishing his campaign slogan of "uniting, not dividing."
In the past, some have doubted that he could blend these disparate elements into any kind of coherent philosophy, but Marton said he has proved them wrong. Some Chi Gam brothers and Panarchy members were initially apprehensive about his dual membership, but according to Marton, getting to know him has changed their minds.
Winning this election isn't the first time a diverse group of students have rallied to support Marton's populist ethos. During his senior spring at the Collegiate School, an elite all-male New York City private school, the student body almost unanimously supported him against attempted censorship by the administration.
When administrators tried to ban Marton from presenting his senior project, a student-produced version of Wrestlemania, the student body sat resolutely in the school auditorium and refused to leave after being dismissed from an assembly.
At Dartmouth, Marton continues to style himself as a spokesperson for students against the possibility of an administrative tyranny. He designed his election campaign to be "riveting," with posters that "represented the strength of the people."
As President, he hopes to increase the transparency of the Student Assembly Executive Committee and pattern the Assembly decision-making process after that of the Dartmouth Greens, which Marton described as a "model of a successful group" in which all members are not only deeply committed to the organization, but also have a say in its future direction.
But no matter how much of his Greens-inspired ideas and Panarchy-inspired attitude Marton brings to Assembly, "it still won't make them wear different clothes," he said.
