Dear Editor,
Last night a momentous thing happened — the Student Senate voted to pass the new Student Government Constitution, and to send it to the students for their ratification. For the last year and a half, members of the Graduate Student Association and Student Government have been working hard to provide for greater representation for a previously undeserved population: our graduate and professional students.
While we initially wanted our own government, we were asked to come to the table and negotiate, to ensure that SG spoke with one voice. While initially skeptical, I have come to the conclusion that SG really does have the best interests of graduate students in mind.
They vindicated my faith last night, when they passed the document we worked so hard to write.
I must extend my thanks to Meredith Ross, Alex Stroman, Ebbie Yazdani, Taylor Cain, Ben Ortiz-Colon, Eve Goodstein, Matt Ungar and Anna Hecksher, as well as my fellow graduate students, for all their hard work. It is through the efforts of student leaders like these that the concerns of graduate students have been addressed over the last year and will continue to be addressed in the future.
However, while the first major hurdle has been overcome, there is still much work to be done. When you return in the fall, the constitution will be submitted to the student body for ratification. Under the terms of the bill passed by the Senate last night, at least 10 percent of the student body must vote in a ratification election, and of course, the majority of those voting must approve. Now is the time for all of us, especially graduate and professional students, to do our part.
Without a doubt, we have been the driving force behind this push for change. It must be us who carries it through to the end. For the last year and a half, I have been advocating on your behalf. But I’ve taken you as far as I can. You must take yourselves the rest of the way. I am graduating next month and thus will not be here to witness the end result of all this hard work. But those of you who remain students will be the ones to reap the rewards. But only if you turn out and vote.
I have faith that I am leaving the University a better place for graduate and professional students than I found it. Undergraduate leaders have been made aware of the problems facing student government and they have stepped up to the challenge to help address them. I hope that graduate students who will be here in the fall will pay close attention and urge their friends and classmates to vote “yes” when the new constitution comes up for ratification. I also hope that they will step up to fill the new Graduate Board that the constitution creates.
One of the biggest questions I faced from undergraduates during this process was will graduate students do our part? Will we be able to fill our legislative body? I believe that we can and we will. But that is up to you. We have been given the opportunity to secure our own futures. If we fail to do so, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.
Sincerely,
Alan Tauber
President of Graduate Student Association
