Student Assembly needs a bold and charismatic leader with the courage to shake things up.
On my first day as Student Body President, I will scrap the SA Constitution and rewrite it to make sense. Instead of an ineffective committee structure mired in layers of bureaucracy, I will institute a dynamic, project-oriented system that rewards performance and demands accountability. SA should be run like a corporation--responsive, fast-paced, and idea-driven.
But modernizing SA is only the means to an end. In the next few paragraphs, I will address the issues that we face as a Student Body--and how SA, under my leadership, will fight to make real change happen.
Self-segregation, in every sense of the phrase, is a serious problem. Every student has the right to be comfortable on campus, but too often we become insulated in our daily routines. Student Assembly must take an active role to foster student interaction by reaching out to minority groups and other marginalized campus organizations. As ex-officio Chairman of the Undergraduate Finance Committee, I will strongly advocate increased funding for COSO and the GLC. There are too many cash-strapped organizations, from club sports teams to performing groups to minority Greeks, and they should receive the support they deserve.
A quarter of students are athletes. GreenGate, a program designed to increase fan attendance, works--as a pilot program in the fall it brought out hundreds of extra fans but collapsed when its funding ran out. GreenGate should be revitalized by forging a coalition between SA, the GLC, and Programming Board that allows each organization to focus on its strengths. The result: bigger crowds and a renewed sense of school pride.
Sexual abuse on campus is a critical issue. But merely charting where sexual abuse occurs is not even close to a solution. By increasing dialogue, raising awareness, and demanding peer accountability, we can take a real stand on this important issue. How? Every social organization on campus should be required to have three active SAPAs on campus at all times. Some already do this, but all should. It's a huge step in the right direction.
Our traditions are under attack. From Tubestock to rushing the field at halftime of football games to throwing tennis balls during the Princeton hockey game, the things that make Dartmouth special are disappearing. I will stand up to Parkhurst and demand that our traditions are respected.
Global warming is perhaps the greatest challenge of our generation. And while we continue to think globally, we must start acting locally. I will personally lead an effort to promote environmental sustainability by launching a comprehensive, student-body-wide effort to create a carbon-neutral campus.
The new DDS meal plan is awful. Setting a limit on expenditures at Topside while raising the minimum meal plan doesn't make the system better, it makes it worse. I will work to find a student-friendly solution, one that rolls over our dollars, keeps Topside fully within the DBA system, and keeps DDS a fiscally responsible organization.
I am not an establishment candidate. I have spent most of my time outside Student Assembly. In my one term as Co-Chair of SA's Student Organizations Committee, I authored more legislation than most people do in a year. If I am elected, it will not be business as usual.
It's time we demanded a leader who will engage the campus in meaningful dialogue. A leader who will openly challenge the status quo while maintaining the courage to stand by his convictions. A leader who truly loves Dartmouth and believes that SA can make a difference on campus.
On April 25, stand up for Dartmouth and make that vision a reality.
