If you’re wondering who to vote for in the upcoming AAS Presidential race, the choice should be simple: go with the person who came to you.
This Thursday, I will cast my ballot for Amherst’s next student body President, and I recognize that I am making a choice that will have an impact far beyond the next year.
I will vote for the candidate that I feel has fought for changes large and small and has a proven record of making Amherst College a better college.
In short, I’ll be voting for George Tepe.
As far as I can tell, here’s the most important thing about AAS politics: No one really cares about AAS politics. Most of us are vaguely aware that a group of people sometimes gets together in a room of questionable color scheme and talks about campus issues, but that’s about as far as it goes. In particular, you can add another to the list of Amherst social divisions: Those who can navigate (read: exploit) AAS funding procedures, and mere mortals.
If Chris Friend is elected AAS President on Thursday, it will be due to his two years of dedicated work on the AAS to support issues that matter to students. Chris is the type of candidate this school needs. He is running on a strong platform, with ideas for policy changes that are creative and responsive to student needs. Amherst needs an AAS President who is not afraid to stand up to administrators. His recent article calling for the resignation of Suzanne Coffey due to her conflict of interest in heading up the Title IX committee show this strength.
In the March 6, issue of The Student Katrin Marquez ’14 penned an opinion piece about the ongoing search for an Interim Director of Amherst’s Multicultural Resource Center (MRC). In the piece Marquez expressed revulsion at the idea of a person with an awareness of social justice leading the new MRC. Troublesome is the most benign description of the piece I can offer. Misrepresentation by omission is another.
During the EDU meeting two weeks ago, Larissa Davis ’13,a member of a committee working on changes to the MRC, asked attendants to give recommendations for desirable qualifications of the new MRC Interim Director sought to be hired in the coming months. Last Tuesday, the College posted a job description designed with student input and meant to attract the applicants most suited for the position. Many of the students at the EDU meeting enthusiastically spoke and several commented on the necessity that the Interim Director come from a social justice background.
On Feb. 11 the Vatican confirmed that Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, known to most of the world as Pope Benedict XVI, has decided to resign his post, leaving the Holy See vacant for a reason other than papal death for the first time since 1417, when Pope Gregory XII resigned to resolve the Western (‘Great’) Schism. Pope Gregory XII, however, was forced into resignation by a specially formed ecumenical council.
