Hi, my name is Max Yoeli and I am running for Student Assembly president. The Assembly is responsible for communicating student opinion to various campus constituencies, especially the administration and Board of Trustees. Right now, large communication gaps exist between students and the Assembly as well as the Assembly and the administration. I will address these shortcomings and use the Assembly as a tool to represent student opinion and take action on important campus issues that impact us all. Let me tell you a little bit about the basics of my platform.
Communication and transparency are essential for any elected body. The Assembly can and should improve how it reaches out to campus and aggregates student opinion. I hope to utilize referendum votes and polling across campus on controversial issues that impact us all, such as the recent changes to the College dining plan, in order to better represent student opinion. If the Assembly better understands student needs, I will be able to more effectively represent students to both the administration and the Board. It is vital that the powerful Board understands student opinions on various issues. This past weekend, the Board heard from a number of student panels in their meetings. I hope to expand upon this trend of student involvement and explore the possibility of extending non-voting student representation to the Board. Finally, as Student Assembly president I would keep my door, mind and heart open and have weekly office hours for students to express their opinions and concerns.
Another important area where the Assembly must improve is student participation. Currently, any student who is not representing a cluster or committee must attend three General Assembly meetings before becoming a voting member. The Assembly is meant to be a representative body for students. Accordingly, any student should be able to come to a General Assembly meeting to vote on an issue that the student feels passionately about. Now that you know my thoughts on the role of the Assembly and student participation within it, let's talk about some campus issues.
The majority of my policy experience on campus has focused on alcohol harm reduction and sexual assault. My knowledge has come from roles such as co-chairing the Student and Presidential Alcohol Harm Reduction Committee and sitting on an administrative review of COS sexual assault procedures. I believe our alcohol issues demand student-based solutions. For example, I am a proponent of expanding the use of Green Team, a student bystander intervention program that I co-founded, to help keep students safe at parties where alcohol is present. I feel strongly that we must prioritize student safety and well-being over administrative minutia.
Currently, there are numerous initiatives examining sexual assault at Dartmouth, specifically the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault. While the Assembly can play a role in supporting these efforts, it is important that the organization also advocates proactive policy initiatives to the administration to advance gender dynamics at Dartmouth. For example, I plan on advocating gender-space equality on campus very strongly to the administration and the Board.
While most of my personal policy experience at Dartmouth focuses on select campus issues, there is so much work to be done outside of alcohol and sexual assault on issues ranging from diversity to sustainability. I acknowledge that I have little expertise in these areas, and I plan on continuing the current policy committee system underthe Assembly to utilize members of our community who do have extensive experience with specific issues to work toward crafting optimal policies. Furthermore, I am excited to learn from my peers about important issues like diversity.
While I believe I have a strong platform, perspective and relationships are equally important in the role of Student Assembly president. I am excited to bring fresh personalities to the Assembly to inject new ideas. Furthermore, I believe I am in a unique position to effectively lead the Assembly because I have working relationships with all parts of campus, the administration and even non-campus figures such as Hanover Police Chief Giaccone. I understand how rewarding reaching out to other campus groups can be. I have the ability to work with people from across campus to develop dynamic solutions and implement them. Remember, please vote Max tomorrow.
