My fellow students, today marks a new beginning, a new hope, and a new challenge for all of us at Rensselaer. Over the past decade, student government has slowly lost sight of its purpose on this campus and has left the issues that plague the student body woefully unanswered. Not since early in the Vietnam era has this student body been so disconnected from its elected student leaders. Not since the early ’90s has there been substantial progress on behalf of students. Not since our time here at Rensselaer has student government upheld its obligation, and never has there been a greater opportunity than now to change that!
On Thursday, you elected me into office with a mandate of 70 percent of the vote to bring about progress with a Senate that actually addresses your issues and not the publishers of Robert’s Rules of Order. The Senate will no longer function as an elitist debate club. Too many of our students are unfairly beset with questions that lack a solid answer. Where will you get $2,170 to pay for the tuition increase next year? Why are so many of our fellow students in the greek system belabored with questions about their rights when they should be guaranteed? Why, in this information age, do we continue to streamline the advising system with more and more technologies but fail to address the most crucial element—the advisor? Why does our academic system at Rensselaer foster an educational environment that drives many students to use addictive prescription drugs such as Adderall, a combination of amphetamine isomers (methamphetamine is its derivative), to be alert for 8:00 am exams and deadlines. Shouldn’t we be encouraging a healthy environment for our students to grow, build lasting friendships, and learn? Why do we have such impressive sports teams but empty bleachers? Our women’s softball team is ranked 12th in the nation. That’s something to be proud of.
We have a lot of questions that need to be asked. They’ve been neglected for virtually a decade, but we also have a lot to be grateful for. My philosophy has never been to settle for the present, but to reach into the future with hopes and aspirations of making things better. Believe it or not, we have a remarkably dedicated team working for this school—they are our administrators, trustees, faculty, and staff. Most of our students aren’t aware of the great strides that are being taken on their behalf to bring to life the vision of The Rensselaer Plan. This is partially because the communication lines between these parties and your former elected student leaders have failed you. I will not let this happen again. I’ve already begun a search for a talented webmaster to facilitate information on a new, progressive student government website. By next fall I will also offer a weekly subscription e-mail outlining significant work being done in the Senate through our crucial partnership with the administration. While these certainly are not the sole answers, they are a start in repairing the communication rift that has only spurred apathy in the past.
You’ve got a great team of senators working on your behalf this term, and I applaud you for your careful consideration in the election process. It was crucial that we fill the Senate with dedicated students committed to service before self. The process hardly ends with the election season, though. The plan that I’ve outlined for the Senate calls for the involvement of all students, not just senators. If you are up to answering that call, please contact me immediately. The opportunities range from appointments to faculty and administrative committees, to lobbying efforts in which you would be offered amazing opportunities to network with our congressional delegation and Rensselaer’s Washington, D.C., office. There are few opportunities as great as this to network with the true movers and shakers of our school, our state, and our nation.
Every bit of progress we bring about is up to us. We’re all in this together. This is our school. This is our time. We have one chance to make a difference and so I challenge each of you to find a way to get involved in the process of uplifting this school to its place in history. We’re the oldest technological university in the nation for a reason. We started it. Let’s finish it.
