By endorsing Jaromy Siporen '08 for Student Assembly president, The Dartmouth backed a losing candidate for the fourth straight year. It appears that like most newspaper endorsements, The Dartmouth's endorsement does not really affect voters on campus (nor should it). But if nothing else, their priorities are different. The question then becomes, at least in my mind, what are we looking for from our student leaders?
In my almost-three years as a student here, I have never voted in a student-wide election for a candidate endorsed by The D (though this happened by complete accident rather than any malicious hatred for The D on my part). Just last Friday, this paper endorsed Jaromy Siporen as their candidate for Student Assembly president, though in their defense, their endorsement was more of a condemnation of Carlos Mejia '08 than a deep commitment to supporting Siporen. The endorsement came because "Siporen's platform is the most feasible; his dissatisfaction with Student Assembly's current structure is the most cogent; his understanding of Student Assembly is the most thorough; and his leadership style is the most conducive for successful implementation of his platform." To avoid starting a different argument, I won't argue with these claims.
But why do we look for these qualities in our Student Body President? Or do we? The "most cogent" dissatisfaction with Student Assembly? The most feasible platform? I can understand leadership style, and to a certain extent understand the Assembly's structure, but given these characteristics, I wonder why voters looked elsewhere, leaving Siporen in third place. The two final candidates were Travis Green '08 and Nova Robinson '08 (both of whom ranked in the top two of my ballot). Green was criticized by The Dartmouth for being "complacent with the current structure and activities of Student Assembly" and not addressing "the problems of abysmal upperclassman retention and representation," while Robinson was criticized for what The D called a "poorly articulated" proposal to increase the Assembly's monetary power. Neither of these candidates expressed a particularly deep distrust and dissatisfaction with the Assembly's current structure, though they certainly offered new plans of their own.
Did voters care about any of The Dartmouth's concerns? My guess would be no. Since this is the first election where I really know any of the candidates on a personal level, I tried to take a step back and view the election as if I were a freshman (or some other neutral party). When I did that, I ended up with the same two choices, Robinson and Green. Ultimately, what I believe Dartmouth students want in their leader, and who they voted for, was someone who appears likable, in touch with the needs and wants of most students (as compared to how people feel about Student Assembly itself), and quietly competent. Every once in a while, a candidate can win by stirring the pot (Tim Andreadis '07's campaign being a perfect example). But for the most part, student voters at Dartmouth like the comfortable, the familiar, and the competent (see Noah Riner '06). Although interestingly enough, The Dartmouth marginally endorsed David Zubricki '07 last year, who was clearly more of the establishment candidate.
Now that I have just said that students tend to vote for the familiar, and The Dartmouth tends to endorse those who appear most interested in change, we need to ask why last year Dartmouth students last year chose Tim Andreadis. As someone who voted for Andreadis, I did so because I believed that our campus was in need of an activist leader, someone so different from our current structure that he would, if nothing else, shake it up. Maybe that has not been the case, but if anything, after the drama of this year, students were ready for the exact opposite.
I am sure Travis Green will make a perfectly competent and productive Student Assembly president. But unfortunately, it all seems to be part of the same cycle between establishment candidates (sometimes trying to describe themselves as anti-establishment candidates) and actual anti-establishment candidates that has been present at Dartmouth as long as each of us has been here. With that said, good luck, Mr. Green, and let us all move the Assembly forward together. Let us finally have a student government we can all be proud of.
