GM Candidate Profile: Tiburon Benavides

Editor's Note: The Poly sent a questionnaire to every candidate that had filed to run for GM, PU, and UP prior to Spring break. Below are the unedited responses from GM candidate Tiburon Benavides '21, '27G.

Why do you want to be Grand Marshal?

I love RPI and I love the RPI Student Union. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the history of RPI and the RPI Student Union, and I want to be able to play my part to promote the longevity of these Institutions and the impact they have on the world and on RPI students.

I will also address the elephant in the room, ‘Why run now, as a graduate student?’ There has only been one PhD Grand Marshal in the history of the RPI Student Union. Grads currently comprise 15% of the Union’s membership, however soon that number could grow to 50% if we are to believe in the goals of the RPI Administration as stated in the Rensselaer Forward Plan. I have seen enough during my time in Student Government to believe the current system perpetuates an unfair balance between meeting the needs of undergrads vs grads. I want the next term of RPI Student Government to be about making necessary changes to the structure of shared governance and union budgeting procedures which ensures that grad needs are equitably accounted for within the Union for decades to come.

What makes you qualified to be Grand Marshal?

According to the Constitution, the Grand Marshal is the chief spokesperson of the student body. I think I am the representative choice for the student body. I have been affiliated with RPI for almost eight years and I have worn many hats during that time. I was a President of a fraternity when RPI became a dry campus, I was a Residential Assistant before they unionized, I was a Learning Assistant during the pandemic, I was a student employee at the Houston Field House. I’ve been a researcher at RPI since I was a sophomore and I was hired on as a research scientist for one year before starting my PhD Program. I have accumulated almost 250 credit hours of experience as an RPI student. I also know what it’s like to go through the Summer Arch, in fact my class year was the first to be required to participate in The Arch program. For the last year I have been very involved in Student Government through the Graduate Council and the Student Senate. I have been in leadership roles on campus communicating with RPI admin since Shirley was in office, and I know for a fact that the current RPI administration is much more receptive towards student input in strategic decision making. I know that right now is the right time to make positive structural changes in Union procedures. I think my perspective is unique among the current student body, and I think I am better equipped than anyone to be able to sympathize broadly with what it means today to be an RPI student.

Name three short-term goals (within your term of office) and three long-term goals (beyond your term of office) that you have for the Student Senate.

Short-term:

1. Lower the barrier for student involvement in stugov
2. Improve communication by recovering stugov access to community mailing lists
3. Help the Administration create a subsidized laundry facility for off-campus students

Long-term:

1. Make Union budgeting practices more equitable and transparent
2. Restore student trust in Public Safety and the Good Samaritan Policy
3. Upgrade Student Government IT Infrastructure

In your own words, what do you feel are the roles of the Grand Marshal and the Senate? Do you think that the current Senate is fulfilling that role? If any, what changes could be made?

Well, obviously the Union Constitution provides defined roles of the Grand Marshal and the Senate. The Grand Marshal is the leader and chief spokesperson for the entire Union and its membership, this much is clear. The Senate is the chief legislative and policy-making branch of RPI Student Government, again this is incontrovertible.

I feel that the role of the RPI Student Senate is two-fold. First, our obligation as defined in the Union Constitution is to arbitrate pressing issues of concern to the Student Union and its membership. In my opinion, the Senate does a very good job of meeting this obligation. The Senate is the most deliberative and discursive body at RPI. Our discussions tend to remain dialed-in to topics which are of interest to the Student Union and its members because of the first-hand exposure of Senators to the RPI Student Experience and the activities of the Student Union. Secondly, I feel that one role of the Senate is to accurately represent the interests of the student body in both internal discussions and in conversations with the Union and Institute Administration. This issue of accurate representation has come up several times recently, and I feel that it is something that should be improved. RPI is a very unique Institute, and we attract an equally unique and diverse student body. It is challenging — perhaps impossible — to fairly represent the opinions of any sufficiently diverse group of constituents. It is equally challenging for any body to actually be proportionally representative of their constituents. Accurate representation of diverse student groups is made even more difficult at RPI due to the relatively small size of our student body and the intrinsic barriers that exist to become involved in student government. One way I would like to remedy this issue of accurate representation is to allow students to directly represent their own interests. There are several ideas I have that would help accomplish this, but I will provide just one here. If elected as Grand Marshal, I will have two ‘Invitation to Speak’ sections in the Senate’s weekly agenda; one at the beginning of the meeting and one at the end of the meeting. The purpose of this change would be to actually actively invite union members to come and speak to the Senate about issues of particular individual or collective concern. Currently, our ‘Invitation to Speak’ is reserved as the last item on each Senate meeting agenda. This makes it very hard for people to come and voice their concerns to the Senate, as they will be required to spend two to three hours waiting for the ‘Old Business’ and ‘New Business’ to be resolved. Thus, our current “Invitation” does not come across as very inviting. Hearing the concerns, opinions, and beliefs of Union Members is crucial to the task of the Student Senate. Without codified directives which purposefully expose Senators to these perspectives, I feel the Senate is currently limited in its capacity as a representative body.

Similar to the Senate, the role of the Grand Marshal is also two-fold. The first obligation of the Grand Marshal is to lead the Student Senate. This ability is made possible by the degree of active involvement the Grand Marshal is expected to have in the day-to-day operations of shared governance at RPI. For instance, the Grand Marshal is an ex-officio member of all Union committees. Being an Officer of the Union, the Grand Marshal is often one of the first student leaders that is contacted by members of the administration during any search for student engagement in decision-making processes. Through the responsibilities of the position, the Grand Marshal is provided a perspective of the Institute uniquely tailored to the specifications of leading the Student Senate in its legislative and policy-making mandate to better the welfare of the Student Union and its members. The second role of the Grand Marshal is to be the chief spokesperson and leader of the entire Union. The Grand Marshal should be an individual capable of relating to and inspiring the members of the Union to promote the interests and welfare of the Student Union and its membership. This is a team effort, the Grand Marshal should be the team’s cheerleader. I will do my best to fit into that archetype.

What do you think are the incumbent Grand Marshal’s strengths and weaknesses? What would you do to improve upon them if you are elected?

Vivian is an excellent Grand Marshal. In fact, I have very few negative things to say on this matter. This last term I have seen Vivian lead the Senate through multiple pressing campus issues, ranging from Senate’s resolution following the recent YDSA Sanctuary Campus Petition to a continued push for a safer campus for pedestrians. Vivian is highly sociable and has innate skill and talent for building and maintaining relationships, which is an essential trait for any effective leader. Vivian also has been very good at delegating tasks to various committees so that as many Senators as possible remain engaged in the business of the Student Senate. While I have seen Vivian bring together diverse stakeholders about a variety of campus concerns, I have often felt that there is no cohesive take-home message from Vivian’s term in office. The Senate has tackled a lot of different issues this term, but I think it is also beneficial for there to be a stronger sense of singular purpose for the Senate to be striving towards. To this end, I would hope that my term as Grand Marshal will add a crucial chapter to the history of RPI Student Government wherein the Student Senate, the Executive Board, and the Union Administration cooperate to ensure a more stable Union through codifying the equitable treatment of all members of the RPI Student Union. This is the singular focus of my Grand Marshal campaign, and it will be my number one advocative and legislative priority as Grand Marshal.

What does the senator-administration relationship currently look like? What should it look like?

Shared governance operates on trust. The RPI Administration relies on bodies like the Student Senate to be advocates of the student voice in order to garner insights into the Student Experience and the impact of administrative decisions. Student leaders also rely upon members of the RPI Administration to take feedback and constructive criticisms into careful consideration. Building trust with the administration takes time. However, trust between student leaders and the administration can break down and it has been absolutely lost in the past. When Shirley was President of RPI, she did not have much trust in student leaders nor in the premise of shared governance. Likewise, students were not very trusting of the administration during most of my time as an undergrad. My first semester as an RPI student in Fall 2017 was marked by the ongoing Save the Union protests. The Administration’s response to these protests amounted to censorship, which contributed to RPI’s bottom-tier ranking on the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Free Speech Rankings for years following the protests. Now, things are much different. Marty is President, and Rebecca is the Provost. Currently the Senate is in good standing with many parties of the administration through Vivian’s efforts to maintain constructive two-way dialog between these two entities. Moving forward, I think the Senate should remain actively engaged in building and maintaining relationships with individual members of the Administration. In particular, I think Committee Chairs should be encouraged to invite members of the Administration to their meetings where appropriate. Committee meetings tend to be more productive than Student Senate sessions and these are good venues to go deep on individual topics of interest. Seeing what can happen when this relationship is not well-maintained, it is essential that the relationship between the Student Senate and members of the RPI Administration remains cordial, professional, and constructive.

How do you plan to engage with the president of the Institute and the rest of Institute administration?

Marty’s office recently released the Rensselaer Forward Plan. To summarize this documentation is beyond the scope of this question. But, I will say that it is obvious from reading through this plan that the administration has three main priorities: 1. Stabilize undergraduate enrollment and increase the size of the graduate cohorts 2. Strengthen our research footprint 3. Engage with alumni. Also, it is clear that the Administration sees active student engagement as paramount to success in their five-year and ten-year plans. So, I will say that I think Student Senate already brings a lot to the table and I know that my proposed policies will resonate with the Administration as we seek to make the Union a more equitable system for all members and to improve the baseline quality of life for graduate students.

The new administration has decades of career experience working together with students to make positive changes at their institutions, and they have continued to do so at RPI. Inside the Union, Dr. Potts has also experienced the change brought in by the new administration and he has nothing but my absolute respect and gratitude for the years of experience and commitment he brings to the table to support the RPI Student Union and the prospect of shared governance at RPI. Other Administrators interact with the Student Senate on a more infrequent basis, these include: Rob Hradsky, Vice President of the Student Experience; Ryan Keytack, Dean of Students; John Lawler, Dean of Student Living and Learning; Philip Bruce, Director of the Center for Career and Professional Development; Mary Nellis, Director of International Services for Students and Scholars; Eric Ledet, Director of the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship; Dorit Nevo, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education; Colleen Smith, Dean of Graduate Student Experience; Mohamed Ali, Director for Auxiliary, Parking, and Transportation Services; Vadim Thomas, Director of Public Safety and Emergency Management; Matt Oehlschlaeger, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs; Graham Knowles, Associate Dean of Off-Campus Commons. I am taking the time to list out the names of these people, because I think it is important to also remember that members of the administration are people. Administrators have lives and families and interests outside of their job here at RPI. ‘The Administration’ is more than some abstract bureaucracy which some students tend to regard as an unknowable masochistic boogeyman. I listed these administrators, in particular, because these RPI employees make their full-time job about enriching the RPI student experience. The correct relationship to have between senators and the administration is one which makes the jobs of these individuals easier so they can play their part to make RPI a better place for all students. To this end, I am committed to creating and maintaining active and engaged relations between the Student Senate and, at minimum, these twelve administrators (in addition to the President, Provost, and Director of the Union) by holding monthly ‘Open Conversation’ styled events between these administrators, the Student Senate, and interested parties of the student community.

What qualities should a leader have? How are you a leader?

There are many different types of leaders. In the past, I have settled into leadership positions by embodying the archetype of a Servant Leader. As an undergrad, the first two semesters after I joined my fraternity I took up the task of doing the dishes for the roughly 25 members who were on the meal plan every night. At the time, I did this because it was a job that needed to get done and I didn’t feel was being done adequately. I went well above the call for action. When it came time for our elections, it was clear to my brothers that I had the work ethic necessary to play the role of President of the organization. During my time as President, both our national organization and RPI changed their policies to make our facilities and our campus dry (that means drug and alcohol free). I was responsible for holding our members accountable to our core values—Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love—as well as new policies shifting RPI Greek Life from a socially-oriented organization to one centered on membership and professional development. This was a transformative time to be a leader in RPI Greek Life, and I think that we rose to the occasion. During my presidency, my fraternity was awarded the Five Star Award for the first time in our chapter’s history.

I know what it takes to get things done. Recently, the E-Board reallocated offices in the Student Government Suite of the Union. This reallocation included Grad Council moving into the Undergraduate Council’s office and the Elections Commission and Web Technologies Committee moving into the Graduate Council’s office. This was perceived as an unpopular decision, a political decision, and a slightly irrational decision. At the time, I saw other student leaders wanting to fight out the issue and revert the change, but nobody was talking about when and how we would make the change. So, one day I decided I had heard enough of the bickering. I took a day off from my research and moved all of the things out of the GC office and into the UC office and moved all of the EC and Web Tech things out of the UC office and into the GC office. I swept and vacuumed the floors and I coordinated the purchase of shelving for storage. I made the best of a bad situation. I think it is clear to anyone that these two spaces are much improved by the office reallocation.

I do my best to empower and uplift the people around me. As a former Residential Assistant and Learning Assistant, I know that many RPI students struggle quietly for a long time before they ask for help. I know that all RPI students belong at this school, and I want their voices and their concerns to be heard and taken seriously both in Student Government and by members of the Administration.

As Grand Marshal, I know that my goals for the term are beyond my sole capabilities. Therefore, as Grand Marshal, I will work to bring together diverse stakeholders — Senators, E-Boarders, Administrators and Students — to tackle the issues of our time and to pursue goals which will make the RPI Student Union a fairer institution for all students.