Stuart Warren, dark-horse candidate for SGA President, was runner-up in the elections with 38 percent of the votes in the third round of tabulations. The reason we voted for Stuart comes down to a single sentence written on many of his campaign posters: “You can vote for snack-time, or you can vote to combat oppression.”
While other candidates talked about improving McCullough or increasing late-night snacking options, Stuart aimed to dissect the values at the core of this institution. He stressed the importance of listening to marginalized voices and funding activist student groups. He talked extensively about changing our practices to better reflect the needs of a diverse student body. He questioned the way we use words like “diversity” and “privilege.” Most importantly, Stuart saw an opportunity for an SGA President who tackles greater structural problems. Real change to campus culture cannot be accomplished in the one-year term of an SGA president, but these deeper conversations about the kind of community we want to be are the most important issues for us to address.
It can be difficult to grapple with structural issues like diversity, sexism or colonialism. Stuart’s campaign, however, brought these issues into our daily vernacular and grounded them in the experiences of our fellow students. The more we talk about these issues, the better we will understand the various experiences of our fellow students, and the better we can enact real change.
So, Stuart, keep advocating for marginalized voices. Don’t let the conversation die down. Write a column for this section next semester. Keep us on our toes.
To our new SGA president: congratulations. We love your plans for peer counseling, cultural competency for faculty and staff and more transparency and higher standards around sexual assault. Keep Stuart’s platform in mind and examine which of his ideas are most feasible. Students are more vocal and involved than ever before. Use this energy to create meaningful reforms, and use your leadership position to champion greater societal change on campus – change that may not see immediate results in a single year, but over time will improve student life immeasurably.
Improving the character of our community will be a long, hard and messy process. But it is the most worthwhile pursuit that any of us can undertake on this campus.
