Smith pushes most of agenda to spring

Author: Hillary Hall

Last April in a tight election, College students elected Bobby Joe Smith '09 as the Student Government Association's (SGA) president for the 2008-2009 school year. Voters responded to the three platforms he called his most important: communication between the SGA and the community, the development of an Africana Studies department and the introduction of a multi-purpose access card. Yet the past semester - Smith's first as leader - has been a challenging one for the College, with budget shortcomings putting strains on the administration and announcements of upcoming changes to life at Middlebury angering some in the community. Smith, though, said that the SGA has much to be proud of despite the economic hurdles it faces.

"The budget and economic crisis certainly made us approach things much differently than we had initially intended," Smith said, "and made us shift our focus as to what is most important and what can be reasonably implemented this year, but I also like to think of this moment as an opportunity rather than a hindrance."

Smith believes that it will be the SGA's duty to prove that its initiatives are a "worthwhile investment," despite the College's financial trials.

This positive determination is what several SGA members called Smith's most valuable quality as a leader.

"His unfailing desire to work for the betterment of the student body here at Middlebury has been a mainstay since day one," said David Peduto '11, one of the sophomore senators.

Becky Harper '11, Chair of Diversity and Cabinet Member of SGA, echoed Peduto, saying, "He is truly dedicated to what he is doing."

Several SGA members noted the subsidy of Addison County Transit Resources (ACTR) fares as a great accomplishment from the past semester, yet most of the goals that Smith cited last spring remain uncompleted thus far. The multi-purpose access cards, which would transform current student IDs into a laundry, debit, access and copy card, are, as Harper says, "still in the works," because of the large amounts of research and work that they require.

And many College students still do not understand what SGA does, nor do they have much of an idea of what the SGA has accomplished yet this year.

"I can honestly tell you that I don't really have one," remarked Jack Kramer '10 when asked his opinion on the SGA.

The several students with whom Kramer was sitting all agreed.

"[There are] a lot of people on campus who are unclear as to what the SGA's initiatives are," said Phebe Meyers '11.

While the monthly student rallies that Smith has introduced do invite community members to take initiative and listen to what is going on, many students still remain in the dark as they lack the time to attend these rallies.

Smith admitted that he has not done everything that he set out to at the start of the year, but maintains that his focus has been more on the internal workings of the SGA.

"Given the complaints and general negative or indifferent attitude most students on campus have towards the SGA, I figured it was time to really re-examine the student government to see if it was living up to its name, and if not, why," Smith said.

Thus Smith spent the majority of last semester researching the role of not only the SGA as a whole, but the roles of each individual position within the group. He, with the help of Director of the Center for Campus Activities and Leadership (CCAL) and SGA advisor Doug Adams, wrote an SGA guidebook. This manual will, Smith hopes, reduce the "learning curve" that new members of the SGA often encounter upon entering office. He and Adams also decided to start a program this coming spring to train the incoming administration so that it can be more prepared to take on the 2009-2010 academic year.

Smith also created three new SGA committees: External Affairs, Publicity and Special Projects. Smith called all of these internal changes his greatest accomplishment of the past semester.

"If you want to make a change in the broader community, you must first start with yourself," he said.

Other SGA members recognize that, to some, it seems that Smith has not carried out the goals he set at the start of his term. But Harper assures students that positive steps will come from the behind-the-scenes reorganization.

"Improving communication on all fronts has been a slow process but progress is being made," she said.

If his work to change the culture of the SGA is as effective as he believes, he will be able to execute the goals that resonated with students last spring. In the difficult economic climate and with the allowances that College students will have to make in the coming semester, the next four months will be a true test of both Smith's new SGA structure and his capability as the strong leader that students need in times of change. Smith hopes that he and the rest of the SGA are up to the task.

"We still have the entire second half of the school year to get the things I had initially intended accomplished," he declared. "I think the SGA as a whole will have to bring it up another notch in order to make the most out of this year, but I am confident we can do this."