Spring 2007 State of the Union Address

Administrators, faculty, fellow students: Good evening. It is my pleasure to share my final State of the Union address with you here tonight.

This year I defined the Student UnionÕs vision and purpose with three themes: Resource, Influence and Culture. The Student Union must utilize its resources and influence in order to reflect, improve, and shape our schoolÕs culture. This year, members of the Union worked within the framework of this vision in order to achieve our primary goal of being an extraordinarily effective group of student advocates. I am proud to say that we have accomplished this goal.

My confidence comes from the long list of projects that members of the Union have worked on all year. WeÕve compiled that list so that every student can access it, and there are copies of it on your tables. Tonight, IÕd like to share with you some of the highlights of that comprehensive project report.

One of the greatest things about being a part of the Student Union is having the ability to pick an issue or a project that you really connect with and really care about and then dedicate your efforts to it all year long. At the same time though, there are also always issues that you inherit from the previous year that may not appeal with the same level of excitement.

This yearÕs Union was charged with the extensive responsibility of implementing the amendment to the SAF. The SAF amendment, which was supported by a student-wide referendum last year, promised to bring greater financial accountability to secured organizations as well as greater responsibility to the members of the Finance Board who would have to allocate and oversee the entirety of the Student Activities Fee. Given the choice, I probably would not have picked this project to shape my year as much as it did, but now, one year later, I am proud of the individuals who were intimately involved with the creation and integration of the financial reforms. We worked hard on perfecting the details, we carefully implemented each step of the process, and we enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment once we saw that our efforts had paid off. The new system gives clubs access to more money and improves the quality of life on our campus.

I would like to recognize the members of the Finance Board---Jacob Bockelmann, Jordan Rothman, Jeremy Shuman, Radhika Kak, Connie Chu, and our wonderful chair, Sridatta Mukherjee, for their hard work and dedication. I would also like to recognize our Treasurer, Choon Woo Ha for his incredible commitment to the Student Union and the Student Body, which is highlighted by the Treasurers Manual which he wrote to help club leaders better navigate the UnionÕs financial procedures. Thank you Choon, the Student Body is lucky to have you back next year.

Throughout the process of developing the amendment and campaigning to get it passed, I could never separate the issues within the SAF reform from the needs of our Club Sports. Last year, the Student Union began working with the Department of Athletics to create a Club Sports Program that would better serve the needs of clubs sports on campus. This semester, after months of negotiation, the Union and the Department of Athletics finally came to an agreement that resulted in a new Program for Club Sports. The program will provide 22 club sports teams with access to greater financial resources for equipment, travel, and lodging, and professional guidance from a Club Sports Coordinator who will be hired later this year.

The creation of this program and the implementation of the SAF would not have been possible without Adam Gartner, our Director of Executive AffairsÑalso known as our very own Brandeis Encyclopedia, and often the other half of my brain. He is a behind-the-scenes mastermind, an invaluable part of our team, and a wonderful friend. Thank you Gartner, for your work this year.

Luckily, there was much more to this year than just SAF and Club Sports. All year, we worked to develop proposals and receive commitments from administrators who pledged to improve the spaces and services on campus that we value most. In the past month we have received four such commitments.

The first (and my favorite) is an administrative promise to follow through with the much needed renovation of the Intercultural Center, or ICC. This includes the creation of a dance-studio multipurpose room-type space on the second floor of the building, and aesthetic improvements to the Swigg Lounge. I strongly lobbied for these improvements because I think the ICC is integral to the culture we want to foster at Brandeis, and I am proud to have made the administration commit real resources to its diversity efforts.

By the way, has anyone noticed the mountain of dirt that currently resides on ChapelÕs Field? Have no fear: by the time we return in the fall, that mound will be gone because the Union has also successfully advocated for the leveling and re-sodding of Chapels field!

Third, the Massell Pond will get a much-needed facelift. The Union has worked with administrators to get the necessary permits and documentation needed to drain and clean it, and it will be sparkling clean when the first years move in come August.

Finally, starting this fall, students will be able to check their WhoCash balance online, and hopefully, will also be able to add to the balance via Credit Card. These changes are all noticeable improvements to Brandeis that will enhance each of our daily lives.

Not only has the Union prioritized these major changes, but we have also advocated for the improvement of what I like to refer to as the everyday-nitty gritty stuff. For example, this year we addressed over 110 documented facilities and services issues on campus that would have otherwise gone unnoticed by facilities, and therefore remained unchanged. In addition, we advocated for dozens of improvements to Dining Services to ensure the most satisfying dining experience for all.

Most notably, the UnionÕs Dining Committee has taken on the challenge of advocating for a move toward a healthier mentality within Dining Services. WeÕve started by raising the level of understanding of the harm of transfat. This has resulted in the initiation of a process to make Brandeis a transfat free campus. Dining Services has already switched to a transfat free oil and is now looking into transfat-free baked goods.

We have also worked to improve the Academic Services at Brandeis. This year, we continually advocated for improvements to the Hiatt Career Center, and hope to see the center receive more financial resources and more visible office space next year.

In response to student concerns over a lack of transparency in the University's Committee on Academic Standing and over our probation policy being too stringent, compared to our peer institutions, the Student Union advocated successfully to Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe and Dean of Academic Services Kim Godsoe to create a committee to review the Committee on Academic Standing and academic probation regulations. We want our academic rules to be as fair as possible to students.

The classroom is not the only place where Brandeis students learn; events on campus, speakers, the arts, and other programs all offer our community a variety of opportunities for learning. For the past year and a half, the Student Union has lobbied faculty, administrators and the Board of Trustees to establish the Brandeis World Forum, an endowed speakers series that will provide the resources to bring at least one major world leader to our campus every year. For Brandeis to continue to ascend in stature in the academic world, and to offer students opportunities they would not get anywhere else, it is essential that we make the Brandeis World Forum an institutional part of our campus culture.

Thankfully, we did have one big speaker here this year: former president Jimmy Carter. After the controversy surrounding his visit to campus, the administration asked the Student Union to put together a committee that would meet with students planning events with a potential to polarize and divide members of our community. The result of this idea was the Campaign for Peace, a committee composed of students, faculty and administrators whose goal was to build student capacity for dialogue. I came under some heavy criticism for this project, with some accusing me of creating a censorship board. This could not be any further from the truth. The UnionÕs goal is not to shut down dialogue, but to expand it, and contextualize it so that students feel events are part of a larger conversation about important issues facing our world. While there is certainly more work to be done, I believe that the campaign for peace brought our low tolerance for real debate of meaningful issues to the forefront of the Student UnionÕs agenda. I hope that the Union will continue to find appropriate ways to create a more open, tolerant campus.

The Student Union Diversity Committee successfully tackled this issue from a different perspectiveÑthrough the discussion of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and socioeconomic class at the Identity Retreat. The Identity Retreat was a meaningful and thought provoking experience for all involved, and I encourage members of the student body to take advantage of these kinds of resources which are currently being offered by your Student Union and other clubs.

A crucial part of our college education is the relationships we make while enjoying the many social outlets Brandeis offers. A vibrant social life means something different to everyone. It can mean partying hard or going to a museum in Boston, attending a campus sporting event or hanging out with friends in Residence Halls, attending a club meeting or eating out in one of WalthamÕs many restaurants. The Union recognizes that everyone likes to do something different, which is why we have spent this year enhancing opportunities for our diverse social life.

The Union understands that many Brandeis students prefer to have autonomy over their own social lives, to plan their own parties in their own homes. Therefore, weÕve created a new program, the Party Reimbursement Plan, which awards stipends to students hosting social gatherings.

For people who prefer to go off campus to have fun, we had a trial run for a shuttle to Brookline, and intend to have the shuttle run once a month next semester.

Large events on campus that bring us together are also incredibly important. The SenateÕs Project Brandeis University Spirit Committee has worked to bring students to socialize at campus competitions. We have provided refreshments at Lousipalaooza and a Rugby team alumni game, cosponsored a Smashbrothers Tournament with Console Gamers X, and will be hosting a Pep Rally for the baseball team this Thursday (see you there!).

The Union is not primarily an event-planning organization. WeÕre your advocates; we create policies that will better your college experience. This year, weÕve partnered with Student Events to recreate a policy for student-sponsored events with alcohol. The current alcohol policy makes events with alcohol prohibitively expensive, and more importantly, necessitates a beer garden to separate those who are old enough to consume alcohol from those of us who are underage.

I hate beer gardens, and feel that they separate the community. Many of us have felt fenced in or fenced out at what was supposed to be a Òcommunity-wideÓ event. This must change. That is why I am pleased to announce that we will see the first real change to events with alcohol this Saturday at SpringfestÑthe community will no longer be divided by a beer garden. Rather, students of age will receive a wrist band, while underage students will have their hands marked with an x. Only students with wristbands will be able to consume alcohol at the event.

If Springfest goes well, we will see the adoption of the proposed policy as university policy. However, that is only possible if the student body respects the rulesÑif underage students refrain from trying to get beer, and of-age students refrain from helping. The destiny of our social life is in our own hands. I call upon the student body to help make this policy work by respecting the rules, so that we can all benefit from events with free alcohol in the future.

At the heart of every Union project is the individual student, and that cannot be forgotten. At the beginning of this speech, I outlined the three themes of my administration: Resource, Influence, and Culture. These three themes are reflective of the relationship between the Student Union and the student body. It is just as important that every student be a resource to the Union, and influence Union officials so that our decisions and choices reflect the culture that studentsÕ value. This is why itÕs so important for the Student Union to be connected with the students we represent.

I believe that we have done justice to this vision. In addition to the projects I outlined tonight, the Union has engaged the community to learn how we can be a better resource to students and to clubs through meetings with hundreds of individual students, the Social life forum, the first-year town halls, the club survey, the social life survey, the diversity survey, and the dining and branvan surveys. We take the results of this data seriously, and use them to create good policy. Through our efforts, weÕve been able to accomplish a great deal.

John Kennedy once said: "All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin."

All year, IÕve found comfort in this quote. I came into the position of president thinking that every member of the Union, myself included, would accomplish everything we set out to do if we put in our maximum effort. I believe in the infinite potential of the human mind and spirit, and I brought that philosophy and attitude with me to the Union.

However, like President Kennedy, I found that no matter how much effort you put in, thereÕs always more work to be done. The university demands excellence from us, but more importantly, we demand excellence from our university. The challenge is that the definition of excellence changes with the graduation of every senior class and acceptance of the incoming first-years. This leaves a lot of work for the Student Government who is constantly working to meet and surpass an ever-changing, ever-increasing standard.

I look now to next yearÕs leadershipÑto president-elect Shreeya Sinha and her administration, and wonder, Òhow will those in our position next year identify the priority issues, and what will they be?Ó Shreeya, Alex, Michael, and Choon, just like me, as soon as you are sworn in, you will come into an inheritance of a mixture of Union projects that you will both love and hateÑcontinued finance reforms and club sports transitions, a struggling career center, a weight room in need of renovation, social life and dining concerns, and an entire slew of projects that would take forever to be given the time they deserve in a speech. There is a lot of work to be done, but there is always a lot of work to be done, so donÕt be scared; rather, get excited for the chance to make a difference!

To the graduating seniors whoÕve stuck around during their final year at Brandeis in order make an impact on the next generation of Brandeis studentsÑAdam Breiterman, Jonathan Winstone, Jeremy Shuman, Laura Covey, Diana Chiang, Jason Brodsky, Adam Gartner; Albert Cahn and Josh Karpoff who have been doing this for three years, and Aaron Gaynor, whose done it for four, thank you for your dedication and your leadership. We will miss you all next year.

Under my leadership, the Union has never rested from pursuing what we believe is in the best interest of our constituents, and after three years of service, I am very proud of all we have accomplished. Serving as your president has been a tremendous honor and really a privilege. Thank you to all the members of the Union who have worked so hard with me to pursue a culture of respect, engagement, and fun. And thank you to the Student body for giving me this opportunity to serve you. I look forward to taking a step back next year and watching as Brandeis continues to evolve.