President Jackson, Board of Trustees, and the RPI Community,
As an alumnus of Rensselaer, I’m writing to express my deep concern with the Institute’s plans to wrest control of the Rensselaer Union away from the students. As a student, I found the opportunities for leadership presented by involvement in student government and the activities of the Union to be one of the most important parts of my undergraduate education.
As a small business owner today, I draw on the real-world leadership and management skills I learned through my participation in the student life of the Institute—and would not want future graduates to miss out on those opportunities that I benefited from.
Most alarmingly, I’ve also detected a condescending tone in the communications about this issue from the Board of Trustees and President Jackson—this implies that students are incapable of appropriately managing the responsibility of stewarding the future of the Union, when the reality is that students have done so for decades.
I sincerely hope that you reconsider this course of action.
Thank you for your consideration,
Nathan Woodhull, ITWS/STSO ’05