PLATFORM
Overall, I’ve had a positive Rice experience, but I recognize that there are institutional and cultural barriers that prevent other students from having a similar experience--I want to run firstly because I want to serve in the role that gives me the best opportunity to help students achieve their “Rice Experience,” whatever that may be. Secondly, I am running because despite the criticism I’ve thrown towards administration and the frustrations I’ve expressed towards the SA’s functioning, I love Rice a lot, and I think that’s why I put so much effort into doing what I can to make it a better place for all students. Third, although I love my college (go Martel) and I’ve helped influence it in my own ways, I realized that the overwhelming majority of the work I have completed and supported has been around campus-wide issues. And finally, as a Black woman who cares a lot about anti-racism and inclusion efforts, I want to ensure the continuance of the Rice community’s discussion and interaction with anti-racism, and I believe the SA President position, with its unique and broad platform, is the best way to ensure this continuance. All of these reasons combined, along with the general excitement and passion I have for student government and policy, is why I am running for SA President and not another role such as College President or SA Equity Director.
So, I want to produce change and serve as an encouraging, effective SA President, and to accomplish this I will center my term around three keys that will serve as the roots to my term: Advocacy, Anti-racism, and Adjustment. Below, you’ll find descriptions of each of these keys and why I chose them as focal points for my term:
DESCRIPTIONS OF PLATFORM KEYS
Advocacy
As someone who has advocated (successfully and unsuccessfully) for many campus-wide changes, I am someone who recognizes the difficulty and importance of student advocacy. Fueled by the crises we have been forced to endure throughout 2020-2021, I’ve witnessed more student advocacy this year than ever before in my time at Rice, including work related to academic accommodations, the process in reporting professors, anti-xenophobia, Blackness at Rice, and so much more--I want you to know that advocacy work is something I promise to prioritize during my term as your SA President. As you can read examples of in the Advocacy section of the Qualifiers tab on this website, I’ve already helped to enact so many tangible changes around campus. Now, I want to encourage and support students campuswide in their advocacy work through my role as SA President.
Anti-Racism
All Rice students have engaged with the concept of anti-racism and racism this year on some level, which has been largely influenced by the rise in xenophobic beliefs/hate crimes towards Asian people and the Black Lives Matter movement--I want you to know that anti-racism will be another main focus of my presidency term. As you can read examples of in the Anti-Racism section of the Qualifying Experiences page on this website, I have promoted an anti-racist Rice culture and institution through the various projects and advocacy work I have engaged in, such as the Diversity Course I am co-creating with Dr. Byrd, Catherine Clack, and others that will be similar in structure to CTIS/be a graduation requirement, but it will focus on diversity within race, sexuality, and more (we are in the middle of the pilot program now--shoutout to all the students who volunteered to take our pilot course, y’all ROCK)
As a Black woman who cares a lot about this issue, one of the major influencing factors in my decision to run was my passion to promote an anti-racist Rice culture. The SA President is someone who regularly meets with college presidents and various key administrators. They’re also who has access to the listserve of the entire student body, and they’re who crafts the very agenda with items deemed as crucial to the student body when all of campus meets every week. Because of this, it is so important that the SA President be someone who not only agrees with anti-racism, but who actively thinks and applies it in their everyday life. As your future SA President, you can be assured that the discussion of racism and various student projects and advocacy related to it will not go forgotten, and I will actively nurture an antiracist Rice culture.
Adjustment
It is possibly the world’s biggest understatement to say that students, faculty, and staff have had to adjust in various ways in response to the crises of 2020-2021. We’ve had to study differently, host college government meetings differently, and even socialize differently. And in order to accomplish these things (or any other task we have had to approach differently), we’ve had to look at what worked, and what can work now. I want you to know that as your SA President, I will be unafraid to challenge administration and explore new ideas, because being open to adjustment is a key to enacting change. As you can read examples of in the Adjustment section of the Qualifying Experiences page on this website, I have challenged administration as well as enacted structural changes within student government during my term as the SA Internal Vice President, such as ensuring New Student Representatives (NSRs) were matched with their first-choice committee (contrastingly, in the past, NSRs were spread throughout committees and used to fill committees as members, which heavily contributed to committee ineffectiveness since they weren’t in committees they actually cared about).
The SA President (and the SA) has historically been viewed as a bridge between students and administrators. I agree with this viewpoint, but what I want to change is the degree in which the SA President lies on that bridge (which currently is in the middle, but I want it to lean more clearly towards students). Currently, the SA President is expected to both equally communicate student issues to administration and communicate administration’s issues to students. To clarify, I agree that an “us vs. them” mentality regarding students and administration is not the most effective way to produce change on campus and represent students. However, I disagree with the sentiment that the SA President has to be as middle-ground as possible when speaking to administration about student issues. I plan to prioritize students and staff over administrators in the conversations I have with administrators--in a way that is respectful, but firm. The SA President tends to be a “go-to” for various administrators throughout campus. Because of this, they are in frequent contact with administrators and also have their inherent trust--a unique privilege awarded to whoever has the SA Presidential title. In my term as your SA President, I will be actively aware of the privilege I have in this service role and therefore always have a “students, staff first” mindset in my conversations with administrators.
If there is anything I learned in my term as Internal Vice President this year, it’s that so many (some would argue TOO many) of the campus-wide decisions that directly affect students are heavily influenced by the students they’ve chosen to represent them. Because of this, I want to use the President’s role as the leader of Senate meetings (the meetings that happen every week where voting members, like college presidents, vote on issues and that all students are welcome to attend) and of the SA Executive Team to make beneficial, logistical changes in how your student government functions. These are often changes that go unnoticed by the rest of the student body, but they ultimately affect how effective the SA is in serving students. So, for my presidential term, I want to spotlight these fundamental, structural (and even cultural) issues and brainstorm solutions.
As your President, I will utilize the privilege that comes with the Presidency role to challenge administrators regarding issues dear to students, and I will collaborate with other students to examine existing issues within student government, reimagine them, and make changes to better the effectiveness of the SA Leadership team’s service to you.
CONCLUSION
There are so many ways to demonstrate in a campaign how you will help better the “Rice Experience” for all that it was difficult to narrow down what to focus on. But what I decided to do was think about the main things that have been a constant issue to Rice students this year, and then limit myself to three main foci--by doing this, I can set achievable goals/plans for my term. It can also reflect on three points as the roots for my campaign and future term, so I can easily remember and lean on them throughout my term. By remembering and leaning on the roots of my campaign, I will remember during my Presidential term that just because I am the SA President, this doesn’t make me the student advocate, but rather a student advocate. When utilizing my platform and listening to student issues and projects, I will remember to amplify voices rather than listen and take-over--truly, the SA Presidency role is a tool. Whether helping students directly or connecting them with others who can, I will always remember my position is one that is just another part of a huge student government network of peers, advisors, and mentors.
I recognize and want to continue to identify issues that make it difficult for many to call Rice a safe, inclusive, fun place to attend, and I believe that as your SA President, I can make a true difference in addressing these issues and can work with students to create real, tangible change on campus. I would be so humbled to be selected for this service role.