It is with great pleasure and honor that I write to you, the student body, as the 142nd Grand Marshal. Having worked with members of the Pants Party and close friends for the past few weeks on campaigning, I have seen the power of friendship and teamwork and am grateful to find myself with such strong allies. I would like to thank all of those who helped me in my campaign, as well as all of the students who were able to get out and vote during elections. It was an adventure to run for office, but now we must take on the greater issues facing the student body.
The newly-elected Senate shows promise and I look forward to the initiatives we will begin to formulate over the next few weeks. We hope to focus on student life issues, improving communication and transparency in student government, and bringing attention to sustainability issues on campus. While I did campaign with a number of items on my platform, I look to the future and am willing to adjust our agenda to fit the needs and wants of the entire student body. This, however, will only be a successful means of composing our agenda if we have student participation and representation in the process. We are looking to hold a performance review with the incoming Senate to discuss the issues this past Senate faced as well as its many successes. We hope to capitalize on our accomplishments from the past term and make sure no issue remains unaddressed.
Keep an eye out for opportunities to participate in student government initiatives over the coming weeks and months. We would like to work closely with your organizations, clubs, and students to make sure we are adequately representing you. If you are at any time dissatisfied with our process, the school, the Union, or anything else, we will be here to address your concerns to the best of our ability. There are a number of ways in which you can reach your senators, which include e-mail (senate@union.rpi.edu), blogs on our website (http://studentsenate.rpi.edu), in person, or RPIcomm. Please make use of these avenues of communication and feel free to stop by the Student Government Suite on the third floor of the Student Union. On any given night you are likely to find someone here who can help.
We will do our best to reach out to the students, but we cannot implement the changes you want unless we are aware of them. There is no issue too small for us to take on. Recognize this and make sure to take full advantage of your resources. Your senators are students who want to serve you and have your best interests in mind. We are fully capable of tackling many issues in the coming term and the results will be seen across the campus.
Please feel free to contact me personally with any issues that may come up at gm@rpi.edu.
