I entered my job as student body vice president this fall with a similar mindset. I had ambitions to shake up campus with radical ideas, reshape the social topography and move the College culture forward to catch up with the student body's mentality. What Student Body President Max Yoeli and I could not have imagined, however, were the scale and complexity of the issues to which we would then have to respond. The arrival of a new dean of the College and new Office of Pluralism and Leadership director, the transition to a new dining system, the establishment of strategic planning initiatives and the resignation of our Pan-Asian advisor were challenging milestones in our administration. It would be an understatement to say that this year has not been what I had imagined. But if I have learned anything over the course of the past eight months, it is that there is only more thunderous change to come before the storm at hand abates. With the announcement that our College president will most likely move on to bigger things soon, the course of the College seems unclear.
Come graduation, I will exit this home I have known for four years. I have two requests for the student body before I depart. First: Vote this Monday. Regardless of your thoughts as to the efficacy of Student Assembly as an organization or your frustration toward "campus leaders" for their inability to realistically effect change, I promise you that the next student body president and vice president will be considered by the College administration to be your voice. These students most frequently interact with our college's staff and faculty and are considered a key resource to relaying student opinion. I therefore urge you to know where the candidates stand on student concerns and initiatives so that you can make an informed choice for which candidate will best represent you next year.
Also, know that you can effect positive change on campus without a title or positional leadership. Think carefully on what you want your Dartmouth experience to be, and protest any hurdle that prevents that. As all of the candidates have attested, if you approach them, they have no choice but to listen to you. So talk to them. Send a caustic email to the Student Assembly account. Come to General Assembly meetings (yes, anyone can attend) and voice a complaint. Fill out every student life or satisfaction survey that comes your way with thoughtful candor. And if that's not enough, be proactive. Address those accountable to you: Go to Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson's office hours, email associate Dean of the College for Campus Life April Thompson and give the administration the window of opportunity to meet you halfway and see what they say.
But if all else fails, and we have utilized all recourses to work in collaboration, if we have exhausted every single channel of negotiation, then we must stand united to demand more from our school.
Our mandate for change must stem, not from individual complaint, but from taking a stand as a Dartmouth community. There will only be greater need for student input and opinion in the upcoming months, and unless the student body speaks with one voice, the administration will be reticent to take our feedback seriously.
During the Inter-Community Council debate, every presidential candidate discussed the ways in which we consider ourselves to be a community. For me, community is what draws us together. The aggregation of 4,000 brilliant, talented, driven persons is far greater than the sum of our individual parts. Considering ourselves a tight-knit, impressive collective, rather than obsessing over our self-imposed and inherited differences only strengthens us. Your voice next year will have far more reach if it is vested in a unified student body. Take your private, brilliant musings and get excited. Work together. And I promise that unified, your demand for change will have to be met seriously.
