Welcome back! Before you get knee-deep into your academics and activities, I need to solicit your help. The Student Senate is well entrenched in its work from last semester. Some of our plans have already come to fruition, such as Ruckus, Go Be Red, Project Hope, our very own Student Advocacy Corps’ fight for greater financial aid, and rerouting the Redhawk Shuttle. But these are only a few of the numerous projects we have been focused on. In order to best serve you, we need to build greater membership in our Senate Committees to ensure we have adequate input and the manpower to finish our work before student government elections begin in March.
This has already been a benchmark year with what we’ve undertaken and what we’ve accomplished, but we mustn’t stop. There is a tremendous amount of work ahead and many more challenges to address. Thankfully we will have our peers from other local colleges working alongside us this semester to develop a collaborative agenda for the future. Senator Brian Zaik ’09 is putting together our first Capital District forum in which we will be hosting student leaders from Siena, the University at Albany, Union, and many other schools.
For years, our approach to student governance has been limited to our campus walls, but never again shall we underestimate our impact. In order to continue improving life here at Rensselaer, we have to improve our students’ experiences in the broader region. That is why we seek to partner with our friends across the river. Imagine if someday you had the option to hop on a shuttle that connected our campuses. Imagine how many more activities and opportunities you would have from sports and recreation to the arts and entertainment. Imagine the diversity and the people you would meet. Imagine it because it can happen.
We’re taking the same approach, although in a much broader sense, with the Student Advocacy Corps by partnering with schools across the nation, Director Mike Goldenberg ’06 is already working with schools such as Rose-Hulman and other members of the AITU (Association of Independent Technical Universities) to establish a student coalition that lobbies for increased financial assistance to students majoring in science and engineering fields. With the “Quiet Crisis”—described by President Jackson as the “gap between the nation’s growing need for scientists, engineers, and other technically skilled workers, and its production of them”—on our hands, Congress must act to stimulate our nation’s intellectual capital. Goldenberg and the Student Advocacy Corps’ national coalition intend to do just that.
Thinking outside of the box is our mantra this term, and I ask that you help us bring our visions to life. Few opportunities here at Rensselaer offer a medium through which to serve, grow as a leader, and contribute to your alma mater all at once, but the Student Senate does. And I’m here to help you achieve those goals.
Please contact me at gm@rpi.edu or x8597 if you are interested in finding out more about how you can get involved.
