The SGA campaign season is an exciting time for us as members of the current SGA Senate to reflect back on our year, engage with students on the issues that matter and offer competing solutions on how to make Middlebury a better place. We know first hand the power and importance of the SGA as a formal channel through which students can make their voices heard. Whether it is advocating for trainer access for non-varsity athletes or establishing a student liaison on endowment affairs, the SGA this year has been a body of robust debate and action, representing broad student interests and offering a forum of civil and healthy discussion on issues from the mundane to the most contentious.
In this year’s presidential campaign, three candidates from three different Middlebury classes offer a real choice to students for next year’s SGA leadership. Although all three are smart and articulate leaders with SGA experience, we believe that current Cook Commons Senator Rachel Liddell is the best candidate for the job.
What qualifies Rachel for the job of SGA President is a combination of her platform and vision for the school, her experience in and out of SGA and her personal qualities as a leader and as a listener.
This year, we’ve seen Rachel speak up thoughtfully in Senate meetings on issues ranging from Proctor cups and dishes to the Honor Code. She isn’t afraid to make her voice heard but she also isn’t afraid to ask questions on issues with which she is unfamiliar. On one issue in particular, the reform of rules for Junior and Feb Senator elections, Rachel helped to hash out a compromise after multiple heated discussions polarized the Senate. She is both a calming and assertive presence in the SGA, a voice of reason and insight with an open mind and a unique perspective.
Rachel’s platform is another reflection of her thoughtfulness and genuine desire to solve problems. Her website gives detailed accounts of 10 important issues that she hopes to tackle, ranging from academics to social life to health/wellness to the environment. She recognizes both the need to finish the job that the Senate has started this year and to involve the SGA in campus issues in which it has not previously been involved.
In addition, she has chosen issues that can be realistically addressed for the scope of the SGA’s power, demonstrating an awareness of the limitations of the Middlebury bureaucracy.
Finally, besides having respect for her work and qualities as a Senator, we can’t help but love Rachel as a person. She is energetic. Her laugh is contagious. She is approachable. She is everything you’d want in someone who is supposed to represent the student body as a whole. These charismatic qualities, on top of her experience and her vision, made us fall for Liddell.
Trust us. You can’t go wrong by voting Rachel Liddell for SGA President.
Senators Danny Zhang '15, Hasher Nisar '16, Rana Abdelhamid '15, Evan Allis '14.5 and SCOCC Barrett Smith '13
