This evening, the Daily Sun Student Elected Trustee Forum took place between myself and the other candidate. It consisted mostly of about fifty minutes of back and forth questions from the moderator, Keenan Weatherford, and the two other current student-elected Trustees. One question was taken from the audience at the end. It all went by pretty fast.
The Result.
At the end of the forum, I approached the writer from the Daily Sun and she mentioned that there doesn’t seem to be too much a difference between the two candidates. That’s somewhat true– we both see academic excellence as a priority; we both view the proposed budget changes with guarded skepticism; we see the Trustee’s role as an advocate’s rather than an activist’s. I could see how some would see the two of us as similar.
My Response.
Maybe it’s just my being at this campaigning thing for a little too long, but I do feel we are in fact very different candidates with differentiated leadership styles. I will speak for myself: I have chartable legislative successes, both as a committee member and as chair. I also have experience turning strategy into action and know the punctuated differences between the two. The content of my experience is very distinct and (I feel) well suited for a position on the Board of Trustees, especially the business-driven environment of my work at UC Berkeley. The topics to which I’ve devoted my time here at Cornell as a GPSA member are few in number and have wide impact, and I try to find common ground with a decisionmaking body in order to push business forward. I choose the topics for which I advocate deliberately.
I urge those who guard their votes diligently to ask members of the GPSA for their thoughts, or to look in the minutes of GPSA meetings and at the committee work (R.11, R.13 are where I had direct impact; R.17 is also important) that’s been done this year. Just talking to one or both of us is a great way to get started, and my door and mailbox are always open. However, I’m aware that’s asking a lot from the average Cornell student, who’s already overburdened with exams this time of the semester.
About the Article.
The Daily Sun article was well written and I think captured many of my own personal viewpoints and the different experiences the two candidates have (ack, I just referred to myself in 3rd person). However, since the fence issue is delicate, I would encourage the motivated reader to hear my full position, posted here.
Overall, it was nice that five of the eight audience members were my personal friends– but that generated a bit of anxiety too since I realized my friends don’t often see me on the chopping block like this. Nevertheless, talking about student government, my plans as trustee and my personal beliefs is practically a pastime– just ask my colleagues. All I needed was the fruity beverage, cocktail umbrella and sunglasses and I would have been ready to talk for a lot longer than 90 seconds per question.