Starting Tuesday, students can begin to vote for Undergraduate Council of Students president and vice president and Undergraduate Finance Board chair. While all of the candidates have their strenghts, we are pleased to endorse Todd Harris ’14.5 for UCS president, Sam Gilman ’15 for UCS vice president and Alexander Sherry ’15 for UFB chair.
Harris is a Meiklejohn peer adviser, a three-year member of UCS and a founder of the Brown Political Review, and he took last semester off to work for the Obama campaign. We were impressed with all three presidential candidates, but Harris’ specific ideas for improving the undergraduate experience made him stand out. Harris identified three key issues he would like to improve upon: undergraduate advising, student-alumni networks and community engagement. Improvements in advising, an area that has long been criticized by students, would put students in closer contact with perhaps the University’s most valuable resource — its professors. Harris also promoted improved student-alumni connections as a mechanism for easing graduates’ experiences within the difficult employment market. We appreciate his focus on students’ futures after graduation.
The primary role of the UCS president is to act as a representative for the student body as a whole. We appreciated Afia Kwakwa’s ’14 clear experience within UCS and her engagement with many campus organizations. While she is committed to the issue of UCS relations with the student body, she did not identify clear and distinct priorities she would advance if elected. Similarly, Daniel Pipkin ’14 is knowledgeable about the needs of Brown students and is greatly invested in building relationships and connections with administrators, students and people off College Hill. But we wish he would have leveraged this experience into more specific initiatives rather than a general list of priorities.
While Kwakwa and Pipkin are both able representatives, Harris presented the most articulate and concise position. We endorse him wholeheartedly.
Gilman is running unopposed for UCS vice president, but he must receive the vote of five percent of the student body to win the position. We believe he is well qualified. Gilman is the current UCS treasurer, a Meiklejohn peer advisor and a founder of Common Sense Action, a student group that aims to engage youth voices in politics. Gilman works well with all three presidential candidates and is connected to the Providence community through his relationship with the Swearer Center for Public Service. We are confident he will be successful as vice president, and we endorse him without reservation.
Our decision was more difficult for UFB chair, as we believe that both Sherry and his opponent, Leila Veerasamy ’15, are well qualified. But Sherry suggested a system in which UFB would shepherd student groups through the funding process in order to make the system more transparent. He also emphasized improving efficiency, which is necessary given the University’s limited student activities budget. Finally, Sherry is a former member of UCS and has strong relationships with all three presidential candidates. These connections are crucial, particularly in the wake of last year’s controversy surrounding the proposed amendment that would have allowed UCS to control its own funding without UFB’s oversight. Sherry will serve as a strong leader for UFB, and we give him our full support.
We urge all students to vote tomorrow. Though this should not be the case, UCS elections are often the only occasion when the student body engages with its government. Students should vote for the candidate that best represents their interests as a whole — but we strongly endorse Harris for president, as he is the most promising and inspiring candidate, and we believe he is the right and best choice for the University.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Dan Jeon, and its members, Mintaka Angell, Samuel Choi, Nicholas Morley and Rachel Occhiogrosso. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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