The Polytechnic is pleased to announce this year’s Poly Person of the Year, former Grand Marshal Max Yates. This year was especially significant, given the increased number of nominations submitted. After narrowing the list down to four finalists, the Editorial Board made the final decision on who would be the 2006 winner. None of the results from the online poll were considered, since there were people submitting thousands of votes for one person.
With that said, the decision was based on several factors that the PPOY should possess. The person should be caring, understanding, modest, and dedicated to making Rensselaer a better place. Yates has shown again and again how much he cares for the student body, and he has put in the extra mile every step of the way to make sure the students’ concerns were heard. He bridged the connection between students and administration to ensure there was cooperation, rather than create an “us and them” atmosphere.
As Grand Marshal, Yates worked on some of the biggest student body projects in recent history. His lasting legacies will include Go Be Red and the implementation of Ruckus as a legal music downloading program. When Yates accepted the position of GM, an immediate issue was the increasing number of students being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America. He put in countless hours trying to get Ruckus to come to RPI, and he was able to obtain this service free of charge to the students. He also followed up on this work when the contract was taking longer than expected and made it possible for Ruckus to continue to be free. Currently there are 3,200 students using the service, and over 10,000 songs are downloaded each day.
The other large program he oversaw was Go Be Red, the new school spirit initiative on campus. Yates, along with Hannah Kim ’07, recognized a decline in attendance at sporting events and an overall lack of unity throughout the student body. It was set up initially as a team competition, with teams earning points for each event that they attended. The program has since turned into the tentatively-named Red Army, which is now a Union-recognized club. The group has already bought out section 33 of the Houston Field House for the men’s hockey team’s home games. The group will also be arranging trips to away games—at least one for every team—and will have designated student sections at the home game venues.
While Yates stepped into office during a time when the Institute needed some major changes, he did not back down from the challenge. He managed to achieve more as Grand Marshal than many before him, and he has earned the respect of the entire campus. He went above and beyond what was expected of him, and he followed up on his work until the project is done and plans are made to carry it out in the future. For these reasons, Yates was named the 2006 Poly Person of the Year.
