Last year, SAFE Reform was one of two undergraduate ballot initiatives that dominated the ASSU election. This divisive Constitutional amendment to reform how our student groups are funded ultimately failed to garner the two-thirds support necessary to pass. Our funding system was fundamentally broken, and SAFE Reform’s failure led to catastrophic funding cuts for student groups in Fall Quarter. Multiple groups were told for the first time in the history of the ASSU that they would simply not be able to function during the fall. While the ASSU Executives were holding town halls to generate ideas, the divisive atmosphere that had surrounded SAFE Reform persisted and no concrete solutions were being pursued.
What the ASSU needed desperately was leadership, leadership from someone who could unite the communities that had bickered over funding reform for months so that every student group could begin to receive funding again. That leadership came from current Exec candidate John-Lancaster Finley, who rewrote SAFE Reform to incorporate the needs of hundreds of student groups. Finley’s reform legislation would effectively fund large cultural organizations, small theatre troupes, pre-professional associations, sports teams, Greek life, and dozens of other types of groups. But having a proposal was not enough; it needed to be approved by the Undergraduate Senate and the Graduate Student Council (GSC) before gaining two-thirds support from the student body in an election.
It was Finley’s idea to have a special election in the Fall– an idea he had first floated following SAFE Reform’s failure the year before. With his proposal in hand, Finley worked tirelessly to get the Senators, GSC Members, and student groups necessary to pass this resolution on board. Each week the Senate kept cutting funding for groups, but behind the scenes Finley was leading the charge to finally pass reform. When the Senate called the first special election in the history of the ASSU for the end of Fall Quarter, The Daily Editorial Board wrote “we worry about how many people will vote in a funding reform election held as a standalone affair during dead week of fall quarter”. The ASSU had only three weeks to garner over 1,000 yes votes to meet the turnout requirement to amend the Constitution and to make sure it passed with two-thirds support.
Finley found a way to bridge the divide between large Special Fees groups concerned about his new reform proposal and the smaller General Fees groups that desperately needed more money. He brought the Executives and their cabinet as well as the Financial Manager on board to support the reform, which proved critical in driving voter turnout. When the election happened, Finley’s reform gained 2,253 yes votes, more than twice the turnout needed, with 95% support. By generating a thorough funding proposal and uniting groups that had previously disagreed on reform, Finley succeeded where others had failed for years in creating a funding system that actually works.
I have served two terms on Senate, four quarters as Chair, and nothing we have done in my time in the ASSU will have a greater positive impact on Stanford students than Finley’s reform. Nearly all ASSU candidates ambitiously pursue lofty goals ranging from mental health to campus unity. These are certainly important, but what the ASSU actually has full control over each year is funding for Stanford’s 600+ student groups. I support Finley/Hill for Exec because they, more than any other slate, understand the ASSU’s role on campus and how to create policies that actually work for the student body. Leadership like the kind Finley showed on funding reform is exactly what we need from our Execs. Lofty ambition is great, but Finley’s track record of creating real solutions in the ASSU is far more meaningful. In order to keep our student government down to earth and focused on issues that really matter, I hope you will join me in voting Finley/Hill for Exec.
Ben Holston ‘15
15th & 16th ASSU Undergraduate Senate
Contact Ben Holston at holston1 ‘at’ stanford.edu.