In any democratic election, it is an unfortunate situation when the presence of a big-name candidate eclipses the discussion and consideration of substantive issues. Two weeks ago, when Frances Vernon '10 announced her candidacy for student body president ("Field changes in SA president race," April 6), we thought the fate of the race had been sealed. It seemed that Vernon's three years as 2010 Class Council president, along with her involvement in numerous other campus organizations, made her the only candidate with enough relevant experience to be an effective leader. The burden thus fell on her competitors, John Nolan '10 and Boyd Lever '10, to prove that they too had something to offer.
Nolan never established himself as a serious candidate. His platform and policies were consistently weak and occasionally illogical, and his denouncement of Student Body President Molly Bode '09's administration as "bogus," and his subsequent e-mail apology, demonstrated not only political naivet, but also a troubling disingenuousness ("Nolan '10 admits his critique was strategic," April 17).
On the campaign trail, and in meetings The Dartmouth Editorial Board held with each candidate, however, Lever not only met the expectations set before him, but also outperformed his opponents -- Vernon included. Whereas Vernon was consistently vague about her goals, Lever spoke clearly and decisively; whereas Vernon seemed primarily concerned with her role as a communicator, Lever expressed a desire for action as well. And, although Vernon's experience at first seemed to set her apart from her competition, Lever has demonstrated a familiarity with the workings of the College that has rendered Vernon's oft-touted experience a moot point.
We understand that Vernon's campaign vagueness may have been a political move. Throughout the campaign, she was widely considered to be the favored candidate, and many believed that playing it safe would set her on an easy trajectory to the presidency. In a race where all three of the candidates lack a significant record of policy decisions that we can judge, however, we ultimately have to base our endorsement on campaign rhetoric -- and Vernon has given us no reason to believe that she will unveil a concrete agenda if elected. Indeed, Vernon's tendency to speak in abstractions leads us to believe that she would not do much to challenge the current system of student governance. Her close ties to the administration, taken together with her propensity to work within existing structures, do not seem to be a recipe for progress.
Lever, on the other hand, has outlined a clear plan of action that -- while far from perfect -- goes much further to offer promising solutions to current problems. His proposal to enfranchise all Dartmouth students at Assembly meetings, for example, and to create more elected positions within the Assembly, would increase campus involvement in, and commitment to, student governance. His proposal to form a Peer Adjudication Committee, which would work with the Organization Adjudication Committee -- while perhaps contradictory to his professed goal of reducing bureaucracy -- is simply a better plan than Vernon's proposed student-run Greek judicial board. And, while Lever's proposals to reform the student activity funding structure do not address the redundancies that plague the current system, his opponents have nothing better to offer.
We therefore believe that Boyd Lever is the right choice for the next president of the student body. He brings a boldness of leadership that has been lacking in past Assembly administrations, and seems the most capable of reinvigorating Dartmouth's student governance spirit. What's more, we believe he is capable of proving to this campus that the Assembly can be a relevant institution that can effect real change.
It appeared this week as if most voters believed that the election was firmly in Vernon's hands -- and that they had made that decision well before voting, or even campaigning, had truly begun. However, while Vernon seemed to be the clear choice at the outset of the election, Lever has established himself as that choice today.
