Student Co-Chair of Community Council Candidates' Letters of Intent

Kevin Broussard '12

My name is Kevin Broussard ’12 and I am the current RA of the Queer Studies House. This year is also my second year serving as a member of Community Council.  I am writing to you to state my intent to run for Student Co-Chair for Community Council for the upcoming school-year.  As the Council is composed of students, faculty, and staff charged with making policy recommendations to the president, being a member is certainly a privilege and honor.

If elected Co-Chair, one of my main interests is to advocate for meaningful student participation and self-governance at Middlebury.  As most incoming students are legal adults, I believe that we should have more of a say in our own affairs and the governance of the college.  Some of my proposals for this issue may be hard to implement, but it is certainly a worthy cause to work towards.

Furthermore, even though I may have my own pet issues that I would like to see addressed, I believe that having a diverse, moderate group of individuals on the Council is paramount; the truth and what is acceptable for most is usually somewhere in the middle.  As such, I would like to see a Council that truly encompasses the diverse opinions of the student body.  To achieve this goal, I would also like to see more of a connection between Community Council and the SGA.

 

Janet Rodrigues '11

As the Student Co-Chair of Community Council I intend to help continue conversations we have raised this year. I am in my third year at Middlebury and believe that this past year broke a lot of ground for community awareness. We have had to address issues of vandalism, theft, damages and dish losses. These concerns have all been traced back to a community issue. I hope to support our community and help find solutions. I have been a voting member of Community Council for the past two years and have been a member of the Institutional Diversity Committee within SGA for three years. My involvement has led me to a place of awareness in the conversations taking place. A primary reason for my decision to stay on campus for my Junior year stemmed from my desire to provide consistency and longevity to the initiatives and conversations occurring throughout the years. The topics I hope to carry on into next year are: sexual assault, dining hall issues and community issues around damages and vandalism. I will place more of an emphasis on Pass/Fail classes, workload, improving the role of the commons system in enhancing community, concerns around alcohol, supporting the People’s Gender Council of Middlebury, addressing issues of socio-economic difference (i.e. booklists, abroad opportunities, promoting conversation) and supporting the revision of freshman orientation. While I have ideas in mind for the coming year, I am always impressed with the creativity that comes from our community and will stay tapped in to new conversations. I have fostered invaluable relationships with classmates, faculty members, staff members and administrators and through these relationships I hope to engage the whole community. Before I ever set foot at Middlebury College, my goal, my motive, my reason for enrolling was solely as a NYC Posse Scholar. I saw myself as a potential leader for the voiceless—the urban, public school students of color, of the left behind. While my idea of “left behind” has broadened, I still hope to embody a representation of the students who did not make it to the privileged table of higher education at Middebury College—most importantly, I want to acknowledge the individuals who will not be sitting at the table of community council. Elect me as your Student Co-Chair of Community Council.