Gents, it has been an exciting couple of weeks getting to talk with guys across campus and to spread our message on how to improve Wabash for the future. Wabash truly brings together a unique group of people, and we’ve been having a lot of fun getting to talk about Senate policies and our ideas for when we are in office.
From the beginning of this campaign, one of our headlining points has been about transparency: transparency of not only the Senate, but also of the executive cabinet. When bringing this cabinet together, we wanted to ensure that we would not only be well-equipped to hear the voice of the Wabash student body, but that we would be approachable enough that the student body would want to tell us about their ideas to improve the Senate and the College.
That is what our mission is about: bringing Student Senate back to the students. We want to create an environment where all students feel that they are welcome and that their opinions hold value. As representatives of the Student Body, this isn’t only some dream, this is our job. To represent the students, well, we must be able to hear what the students think.
This principle has guided many of the commitments we have made throughout our campaign. From having open AFC minutes, to increasing accountability for senators to speak with their constituencies, to prioritizing the building of a website where students will be able to access all Senate documents. We want to make it as easy as possible for any student to know what is happening within the Senate.
We know that not everyone will be interested in what is happening at Senate; everyone at Wabash is busy, and you can only care about so many different things at a time. However, for those who do care, we want to make sure that we have put in place every possible tool and convenience so that there is absolutely no hassle for a curious student to find any information they would like to know about the Senate, even if they can’t talk to their senators.
This vision isn’t possible without the support of the students. While an active and engaged community on campus can start with us, it has to continue with the support of the student body. We want to create a culture where students care about what is happening on campus and where students want to support their brothers in everything that they do and accomplish. With your support, we hope we can make this dream a reality.
We know that a campus doesn’t change overnight. Sure, the Bergman-Rivera ticket has plans to increase transparency, adjust the budget and create a Senate culture that can benefit future Wabash men. However, we can all accomplish so much more through buying in to create a campus that students will benefit from for years to come.
To meet these goals, if you have ideas to improve Senate, Wabash or anything in between, talk to us about it. We want to hear from you. The liberal arts education fosters a community of exploring ideas through different avenues, and there is nowhere better than Wabash (and, arguably, no place better than Senate) to allow for this arena of ideas to flourish.
Cole Bergman ’24 is running unopposed for Student Body President.