Tradition!
RPI is an institution steeped in tradition, befitting its status as America's oldest technological university. The Rensselaer Union, as one of—if not the—oldest continuously student-run union, is no exception. Traditions like the Top Hat, which dates back to the American Civil War, serve as cherished reminders of what makes our institution great.
Why have a Grand Marshal? According to the Rensselaer Union Constitution, the Grand Marshal acts as the "Chief Spokesperson" for the entire RPI student body. This raises a clear representational challenge: How can one person possibly capture such diverse perspectives? The truth is, our system doesn't depend on a single individual in a funny hat. Instead, it unites many groups of elected student leaders under RPI Student Government to amplify your voices and viewpoints.
The elected roles within Student Government are best seen as positions of service to their constituents. We work to represent your interests to administrators who are so removed from the daily realities of RPI student life that they seem unaware of basic issues—like decades of deferred maintenance in residence halls, endless delays in infrastructure repairs, and deliberately obfuscated messaging on key decisions, from financial aid changes and course offerings to the Institute’s brand identity.
One core challenge in our system—and in all higher education—is that those with the most control over the student experience aren't themselves students. To address the representational issue of having a single chief spokesperson for RPI's student body, I would argue that any student-led body, created by and for students, is far better than the alternative.
As an RPI student, you bear personal responsibility for preserving these traditions. Through the Rensselaer Union, you have a community of peers ready to support and uplift you in times of petition or advocacy. Your voice is essential this GM Week, March 23 to 27, to help select the next generation of student leaders: your advocates in rooms filled with administrators who cannot relate to your experiences.
To those who might say, "Our problems are small—why should I care?" I would respond: our issues are only as small as they are emblematic of problems faced by all institutions of higher education across America. If you care about how your education—and that of millions of others—is delivered, or if you want to see firsthand how academia really operates, there's no better way to learn than by serving in the Student Senate of the Rensselaer Union. This tradition is part and parcel of the RPI student experience. It is at the forefront of the Institute’s intentional focus on experiential learning, and it is a tradition that I hope and pray will continue to shape the Institute in its third century and beyond.
Our community is still recovering from recent traumas, including COVID-19 and a prior administration that clearly undervalued student autonomy. This was evident in the "Save the Union" movement of my freshman year in 2017, and related events that followed from a fractured relationship between the students and the administration, including the Greek Life Task Force.
One key factor shaping the student-administrator relationship is its fleeting nature: students come and go, while administrators remain. As a result, student leaders often appear to suffer from ongoing short-term memory loss. A current freshman, for instance, cannot understand, and is not personally injured by the events that transpired at RPI between 2019 and 2022. Similarly, future students won't care about the details of how Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute became RPI the same way as today's Club Swim members and those who voted on their bar design in fall 2025 might care.
During my time in the Student Senate, I've witnessed the real benefits of centralized student agency for the Institute. On sensitive and timely issues of concern to the students of Rensselaer, the Student Senate has time and again served as a voice of reason and compromise. This should be a cherished asset to our administrators, and not something to be passively diminished. In the coming years, the Senate must preserve its autonomy and power to influence events within the Rensselaer Union. The challenges facing our Union will not find adequate solutions or balance solely in the minds of administrators in the Troy Building.
Next week, I will share the key questions future terms of The Student Senate must tackle in a piece titled "Beware the Fratification of StuGov."
Until then, I encourage you to seriously consider running for elected office in the Student Senate, the Undergraduate Council, or the Graduate Council. If you are unsure how to start, please reach out to me at gm@rpi.edu.