I hadn't even heard of Dartmouth. I was a high school junior from Louisville, Kentucky and I wanted to go to a good college. My parents dedicated their lives raising my siblings and me and to running a ministry for drug and alcohol addicts in our inner-city neighborhood. They always pushed me to do my best. So, not knowing any better, I Googled "Ivy League" and discovered Dartmouth. Three years after that first visit, I'm asking to be your Student Body president.
SA's job isn't to create the things that make Dartmouth special; it's to protect them. When the swim team was cut my freshman fall, I helped the team captains organize a protest in Parkhurst that over 500 students attended. We were all swimmers that day, and we weren't afraid to stand up for our teammates -- all 4000 of them.
Great as it is, Dartmouth has serious issues we must deal with.
Courses are overcrowded, especially in large departments like government, psychology, and economics. Our proud tradition of athletics has been undermined by top administrators. And the College's number-one advocate of sexual abuse awareness is resigning this month after years of administration mistreatment and disregard.
My plan for change at Dartmouth is simple: big vision coupled with practical implementation.
-- This term I'm taking a class with 120 students that was supposed to be capped at 50. The administration must admit class oversubscription is a problem and hire more professors.
-- Club sports teams shouldn't have to wonder if they'll be able to pay for their trip to the championship round. I will work with teams to form an endowment that will ensure funding for years to come.
-- The number of women in the Greek system is roughly equal to that of men, but Dartmouth has twice as many fraternities as sororities. I will support Panhel in demanding that another sorority be added.
-- I will form an S&S student review board which can look into alleged abuses of power, condemning excessive uses of force and vindicating wrongfully accused campus security.
-- Hire a new Coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program this summer, much sooner than the administration's projected date January 2006. This position is a key part of Dartmouth's commitment to the safety of all students and shouldn't be allowed to remain vacant.
It's not enough just to criticize the college or SA. We have to make them better. As my leadership in the swim team protest demonstrates, I'm not afraid to stand up to the administration. My experience as Student Body Vice President and SA committee chair allows me to leverage my relationships with administrators, alumni and the Board of Trustees into effective representation.
Alumni saved the Greek system in 1999 and the swim team in 2003, and we must continue to team up with them in future battles. Last term, as chair of the Alumni Affairs Committee, I put together a meeting where a current trustee asked a small group of student leaders to list what needs to change at Dartmouth. It's incredible progress for student voice when President Wright's boss is listening to students and changing college policy accordingly.
This Student Assembly election is about a lot of things: the Greek system, athletics, the administration, you name it. But first and foremost, I think it should be about Dartmouth. I love this college, and that is my greatest qualification. I never expected to be here, and I owe this school more than I can ever convey or repay.
