When this race began, I was not going to give a public endorsement. Although it is usual for a president to endorse a candidate, I believed my role as president was to stay above all the politics. Nevertheless, over this past week, as I have watched the presidential elections skew towards the question of the need to have AAS experience, I decided to take my own experience, and endorse the person I believe would be perfect for the job.
As I read Chris Friend’s latest article in The Student, this morning, I could not but think how his article advocates for the exact kind of AAS-insider thinking that I tried to fight against by running for President, and that I’ve learned isn’t and shouldn’t be a necessary part of AAS life.
Let me be blunt: there have been some concerns about Will's level of experience. As current AAS president, and therefore the person with the most possible experience with this position, I do not believe this should have any bearing on your vote this Tuesday. While an AAS Vice-President is President of the Senate, an AAS President is President of the student body. This crucial difference determines what kind of person and experience you need for each job. One position requires significant knowledge of the AAS as a student government, and the other requires a deep and far-reaching connection with the student body of our school.
I am endorsing Will Savino because I believe he will be a dedicated, down to earth and creative president. He is a genuine listener and a charismatic mediator, who will fight for students every step of the way. He knows how to work with administrators, and he knows how to get things done. He’s a feminist, an ally, a supporter of athletics, and a committed Amherst citizen. He will revamp the role of the AAS, making it more transparent. He will bring the fraternity question to bear, and he will bring this community together.
When I ran for President, I argued that you did not need years of experience to serve as the AAS President. As the current AAS president, more than ever, I stand by this belief. The ultimate, telling question you should ask yourselves is not who has the most AAS experience, but who you want to sit down with and listen to your concerns and ideas. Although this question obviously does not represent the complexity or intensity of the job at hand, I believe its answer captures the essential, crucial qualities that a president should have.
Friend argues that “students are labour, and the administration and faculty are management.” That’s the kind of attitude I’m worried about. Fighting for student concerns is vital, but it also needs to be effective. I came into the Presidency under the premise that we could bring our community together, not divide the student body and the administration. That work is not done, and I think Will Savino is the best person to continue what we, as a community, are working towards.
Tania if you recall, you won by default because of an AAS scandal. No one voted for you. Enjoy your night!
If you recall, Tania won the first round by a large margin. It was not her fault this round was disqualified because her two opponents were guilty of unethical behavior. She is the best thing to have happened to the student body in a long time.
1) people did vote for her, which is why the scandal happened because people got scared and decided to try and cheat
2) your passive aggressive response does nothing to move this conversation along and is at best childish and pathetic, but if that's how we're going to play this, enjoy your night as well!
Tepe for President
Tania is the perfect example of what a president without AAS experience gets done: nothing of value.
Speaking from experience, Tania singlehandedly managed to do what 5 years worth of AAS people failed at: start Pub night at Schwemms. I would not consider that "nothing of value". In fact, that's probably the most useful, cool thing the AAS has done for students....ever.
Voting for Savino, no thanks to this endorsement. Tania you've done nothing as president, worried this hurts his candidacy.
I'm sorry, but I just read your comment and I disagree with you completely. I am a member of the Amherst Club Soccer team, and if it weren't for Tania's dedication to our cause, the administration would not have let us play. I think she is doing a great job as president, students love her!
Jesus Christ, enough with the personal attacks
I think ya'll are being too dramatic. Also, don't make any personal attacks, that's just unclassy.
Both candidates will do fine if elected, I don't see the point in getting heated over AAS elections. It's not like the president has a significant impact on student life; it's all a collaborative effort.
That being said, I'll vote Savino. He's incredibly personable in all groups (more than Tepe), and has a great platform. Still, the candidates aren't that different, so there's really no need to bash anyone – even Tania. This year, the administration was incredibly uptight in the changing of ANY policy, or anything social for that matter. Cut her some slack.
a decent endorsement from a president who hasn't attended more than two senate meetings all semester
what are you talking about?!? she has been to all senate meetings except these last two because she is writing a thesis...
I am endorsing George Tepe because I believe he will be a dedicated, down to earth and creative president. He is a genuine listener and a charismatic mediator, who will fight for students every step of the way. He knows how to work with administrators, and he knows how to get things done. He’s a feminist, an ally, a supporter of athletics, and a committed Amherst citizen. He will revamp the role of the AAS, making it more transparent. He will bring the fraternity question to bear, and he will bring this community together.
ha! funny. then i guess the real difference between the two candidates is that one is in a frat and the other is not. one can mediate the role of frats on our campus, and the other will be inherently bias to keeping frats on campus. it's an easy decision- vote for the guy who is sociable enough to have friends, or vote for the guy who needs a frat to have friends...
Tania was a great president, but certain things about the way she views presidency worries me. By saying that she is the president of the student body and not the AAS, she distances herself from the people she should be working with. It's not the president's job to be the connect between senate and the people - in fact I would argue it is the opposite. At the end of the day, each class elects senators that they feel they can talk to and are representative of them. By villanizing the senate, Tania sets a dangerous precedent.
Savino will do a good job, as will Tepe, but I know that it cannot be good for the student body to have a president who endorses the values Tania is espousing in the context I've explained above. We deserve better.
not to be nitpicky, but she never said she wasn't president of the AAS...I think she was differentiating her position from president of the actual AAS senate. from what i get from her article, she is not vilinizing senate, but nuancing our understanding of her job, which is to go beyond senate, and work for and with all students- senators and non-senators.
That is EXACTLY the problem I have with her argument. "nuancing our understanding of her job, which is to go beyond senate, and work for and with all students- senators and non-senators."
What do you suppose the senate does? It is their job as our voted representatives to work work with the student body. It has become fashionable to bash the AAS and to believe that having a 'non-insider' will fix all problems with student government, but the fact is the AAS aren't the bad guys. They work for and with the student body, and any argument suggesting otherwise does grave injustice to the senators who give up so much of theor time and energy to serve the students and Amherst College.
Tania has been a great president. If students can't see that then that's sad.
Tania had nothing to do with defending club soccer and making it viable. That was completely done by George Tepe.
No, it was completely Tania. Get your facts right.
Tania has missed enough meetings that she could get removed.
It is sad to see some of these comments criticizing Tania. She has done a phenomenal job in the face of such a hard, dramatic year at Amherst. You all are criticizing her all of a sudden, because everyone knows that her endorsement carries a tremendous amount of weight. Doubtful there would be so much criticism if she had endorsed Tepe. But, as usual, she does her thing and doesn't really care what people think. Just like what she did with the MRC poll, she stands up for what she believes in. She is one of the most respected students in our school right now. Whoever becomes president next, will have huge shoes to fill. May the best candidate win!
I understand that Tania is writing a thesis, but it should be known that technically, per the Constitution, she could be removed from her position due to too many absences.
The funny thing about reading these comments about her attendance is that if she were removed, then the AAS would be destroying the one best thing to have happened to it. Haha honestly. She is the most popular, respected and successful president in at least my four years at Amherst. Haha this is literally the first year that I know who my president is and what she is doing for us...
wow. some of these comments really bash Tania. i find it interesting how all year, everyone has absolutely loved her for being so popular, insightful and dedicated. and now, when she doesn't endorse the more experienced, annoying chi psi candidate, y'all think she hasn't done anything all year. plain stupid.