My friends call me Nathan, and I am humbled to be Sean Cann’s vice presidential running mate. I first met Sean during Green Key our freshman year. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with him to positively evolve Juggling Club and Collis Governing Board, two organizations he now leads. He is brilliant and empathetic, and he gets thing done. I am confident that Sean Cann has all the foundations necessary to lead our student body with excellence.
In his April 14 column “How We Can Fix Dartmouth,” Nick Harrington ’17 described his campaign plans to fix Dartmouth, and I was moved by his eloquence in defining the campus climate. In using such phrases as, “Parkhurst has traded the Dartmouth of today for the Dartmouth of tomorrow,” and, “Our student body is less a community and more a collection of peer groups,” he captured a sentiment many on campus may be feeling.
Our campaign agrees that there is much opportunity for growth in the Dartmouth community. However, our plan of action is realistically more achievable than those proposed by other campaigns. We’re going to do two things — accomplish five highly specific goals and make Student Assembly data-driven. Making such changes as creating a student Bill of Rights are certainly great accomplishments, as is Harrington’s promise to “ensure that Dartmouth’s problems serve as a catalyst not for resignation and division, but rather, for reevaluation and change.” But, as we detailed on our website, we think there are more effective ways to improve student life.
We are tired of hearing pitches about “increasing discussions” and “pursuing initiatives.” We are tired of extensive promises and few perceivable accomplishments. Rather, we want to see Student Assembly translate its approximately $45,000 of funding and its mission to make student life as good as possible into concrete, constructive action that meets students’ desires. I believe our campaign can do this. We are not politicians, and we have almost no previous involvement in Student Assembly — but we bring results to the table. Between the two of us, we have created new student organizations and companies, out of which even came a smartphone app for Dartmouth students; we have helped run Living Learning Communities; we have implemented improvements throughout campus, including an entire umbrella checkout system in Collis; we have coordinated events that hundreds of students have attended, and, through clubs, we have managed hundreds of thousands of dollars to improve student life in the best ways we possibly can. Although Harrington believes “we cannot afford to waste time” letting outsiders into Student Assembly, I believe Sean will be a breath of fresh air as the Student Assembly president.
With this experience, we would like to propose a complete, pragmatic simplification of Student Assembly. Let’s stop throwing lofty words around. Let’s instead focus on specific and highly achievable goals. In pursuit of this, we plan to use Student Assembly’s resources to give back to campus by accomplishing five goals: creating a clear weekly events schedule, adding laundry hampers to every laundry room, making standing desks available to students, installing covered bike racks and purchasing softer toilet paper that can be used by all of the Dartmouth community.
Our five specific goals are drawn from data we have collected, largely from the Improve Dartmouth website. We also plan to collect data of our own. Sean and I are only two people, and we cannot understand the perspectives of all students and student groups on campus alone. In making decisions for Student Assembly and in interacting with the administration, we believe that it is crucial that evidence guides our decisions. Hence, we will make Student Assembly data-driven.
We will collect this information through three methods: Pulse, one-question surveys and a Student Advisory Board. Pulse, a web-based program currently being developed by a group of Dartmouth students, is a data-collection technique that incentivizes students to take surveys about various issues. We believe that Student Assembly should not make any important decisions without having extensive information on the topic.We will work with the Pulse teamto gather hard evidence of student views and desires, which we can then present to the administration and use to base our own decisions on.
Aside from Pulse, long surveys are not well received. This is why we will include a confidential one-question survey along with the weekly events schedule to gauge student opinion on topics of interest, such as the new housing system and the hard alcohol ban. In addition to this quantitative surveydata, we will also collect qualitative data by creating aStudent Advisory Board consisting of a group of about 10 to 12 students to represent various segments of the student body. Working together with this Student Advisory Board, we will discuss important topics and hear student opinions on big issues.
All of the current campaigns recognize that there are issues with Student Assembly that need to be addressed. The vast majority of students have no idea what Student Assembly even does. These issues are rooted in the fact that our Student Assembly is far too complicated and vague. If you want a Student Assembly that proposes lofty and vague promises and doesn’t deliver, don’t vote for us. If you want a Student Assembly that attaches big words to simple ideas, don’t vote for us. If you want a Student Assembly that continues as usual, don’t vote for us. However, if you want a Student Assembly that takes a careful look at what students actually want and that achieves very straightforward goals, I strongly believe that Sean and I are the best candidates for the position.
Because sometimes it’s frustrating when your student leaders are having high-level meetings and intense discussions behind closed doors, when all you want is softer toilet paper.
It’s time for change. It’s time to simplify. Yes We Cann.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and we deeply appreciate your consideration when voting this election cycle.
