THE OPTIONS for Student Council President this year are varied in their experience and their goals for Council. Because all candidates are qualified, a closer look is needed to determine who the best choice might be.
A third year Economics major and student in the Politics Honors Program, John Nelson is the most experienced candidate in this year’s race. He has served on first, second, and third year councils, and is currently Student Council’s Vice President for Administration. Outside of Council, he works as an Honor Committee Senior Advisor and is a brother of St. Elmo’s Hall. Nelson is also a former Cavalier Daily opinion columnist. Although he has many existing obligations, Nelson promises that the Council presidency would be his top priority if he were elected. Regarding the election, he said that “I’m running because I think I have the most experience with Student Council and the most experience in leadership positions outside of Student Council.”
Despite his role in the current administration, Nelson is still capable of critically assessing Council’s performance over the past year. He notes that “I think mistakes that fall on [current Council President Matt] Schrimper also fall on all of us,” and notes that something “that needs to be addressed, but we didn’t address, was affordability.” In addition to making UVa financially accessible in a poor economic environment, Nelson also hopes to improve student safety and environmental sustainability efforts and further globalize UVa by fostering connections with alumni living abroad and international students on Grounds.
Nelson believes the University Unity Project “is an essential part of what Student Council is about: bringing students together.” He thinks “our community focus has been too broad,” and hopes to improve the initiative if elected. Nelson identified his biggest personal flaw as being too ambitious and said “as a first year I got to the point I was worried I couldn’t make the quality commitment that was required of me” in all activities. Nelson’s commitment to his elected office will surely serve him well if he is elected.
A second year, but soon-to-be graduate student, Neal Fox has done more in two years on Grounds than many of us could hope to achieve in four. He will graduate with a cognitive science major and math minor this May and enroll in a systems engineering program as a graduate student in August. Fox is involved with the University Judiciary Committee as a counselor and chair of the data management committee, but notes that if elected, he would focus on Council because his term on the University Judiciary Committee expires soon. Unlike John Nelson, Neal Fox has no prior Council experience aside from attending a few community forums as a concerned student. He down plays this potential weakness by arguing “I think I bring a vision to the table and the Student Council President is much more a visionary position.”
Fox believes Council “needs to reach out to student groups that are not commonly sought out” and “needs to be more effective and efficient in how it achieves its goals.” He worries that Council is too centralized and top-down. To address these concerns, Fox would implement closed door, off-the-record discussions between Council leaders and student groups called sweat sessions. He envisions this as “an osmosis of ideas,” and approximately a week after the sweat session would hold “a center stage where the ideas would be discussed openly.” Fox believes this organic, grassroots approach will address the central problem of communities within the University feeling alienated or marginalized by the traditional process.
Regarding the current administration, Fox notes that “the primary thing that Matt [Schrimper] had problems with was directing the path of Student Council,” noting that Schrimper “had some very big, very grandiose ideas and some of them failed, some of them floundered, but a lot of them succeeded.” Fox thinks the Unity Project is “a fantastic sounding idea that’s very hard to implement if you don’t direct it at a specific thing.” Like Nelson, Fox said he can be too ambitious, noting that “I very, very much love to make things happen myself.” This initiative is certainly a desirable trait for Council President to have.
William Reynolds is a third year in the Commerce School pursuing a double concentration in marketing and information technology and is simultaneously majoring in computer science. He served on various class councils and currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer for Council. Reynolds drew upon experience running the CourseForum to redesign Council’s Web site. Despite his affiliation with the current administration, Reynolds thinks “there’s a big need for change in Council” and that “there’s a big disconnect and a gap in communication.” He hopes to increase transparency and open channels of communication if elected.
Specifically, Reynolds hopes to employ his technology expertise to “encourage the different committees on Council to work together on their different initiatives.” Like Fox, he stresses the importance of student feedback and engaging all communities within the University. Unlike Fox, he does not plan sweat sessions or center stage events, but instead hopes to create an online forum where students can comment on Council initiatives. He envisions this being “like a giant Facebook wall where students can vote on ideas they like, and the best ideas will rise to the top of the page.” Reynolds was critical of Council’s past communication gaps, and believes his use of marketing and creation of a Chief Creativity Officer position will alleviate such problems.
He supports the University Unity Project, stating its purpose is “just right,” although “the execution needs to be improved.” He faulted the program for not allowing students to pick the theme this year and for failing to coordinate with CIOs as co-sponsors of project components.
Reynolds said that others would list his largest character flaw as “having inexperience in terms of being ready for the presidency, but I would react to that by saying I have a different perspective and it works to my advantage because I’m more critical of Council than people that have been involved in that organization for two or three years.” This critical eye will surely bring about a new direction for Council.
This year’s presidential race has three unique and capable contenders. Nelson’s intimate and intricate understanding of Council is a compelling reason to support him. However, he does not promise to be a significant change agent like the other candidates, and may be too entrenched in Council traditions to significantly change the organization. Fox promises a grass roots approach to implementing his participatory vision. However, he has no experience with Council and could have a steep learning curve as president. Reynolds strikes a balance between Fox’s lack of Council experience and Nelson’s immersion in the administration. He hopes to make Council more transparent and effective at communicating with students. Overall, each contender is qualified in his own respect and could succeed as Council President. Now it’s up to you to choose which candidate shares your values and vision. Best of luck to the candidates and the voters faced with such a difficult decision.
James Rogers is an associate editor for the Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at j.rogers@cavalierdaily.com.
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