Jackson Beard ’17 and Amanda Edelman ’17 are a pair of very strong candidates for the ASSU leadership and would have been competitive in any other year. While they are the only serious ticket for ASSU Executive this year, The Daily has no obligation to endorse any candidate — and we appreciated that while Beard/Edelman did not have any competition, they prepared as though the leadership was contested. They showed an impressive command of detail in their endorsements and their platform, and we are confident that they will be able to hit the ground running.
Realistically, the success of an Exec slate rests on the ticket’s ability to connect student groups, the Senate and the Stanford administration, rather than any of the many other factors that typically define electability. We believe that Jackson and Amanda will be able to make these connections, given their wealth of experiences across different areas of campus.
In their interview with us, Jackson and Amanda showed that they will take the right approach with administrators and the Faculty Senate. We are glad that they will be ready to work with incoming President Marc Tessier-Lavigne as he transitions into the Stanford community. The role of ASSU Executive is one mainly of interacting with administrators — Jackson and Amanda will be good representatives for the student body.
The slate has extensive experience in student government and has shown an ability to learn lessons from past student executives, particularly in how they plan to harness their student resources and staff. They will build a cabinet that is small and responsive. Moreover, one of the benefits of being the only major slate is that they have gained valuable lead time in finding the best candidates to staff their administration.
Jackson, in particular, shows a strong understanding of funding — she spent her sophomore year as the chair of the Appropriations Committee of the Undergraduate Senate. Her understanding of SSE could prove useful in providing oversight of the financial branch of the ASSU in the wake of SSE’s recent scandal.
At a time when the safety of women on campus is one of the most notable issues on campus, the slate promises to be stronger supporters of continued sexual assault reform, working to implement mandatory sexual assault education for freshmen, among other initiatives.
They also have connections to many of the students on campus — both are in Greek life, while Jackson has been involved in Stanford in Government and Amanda has worked for the Bridge. If they can continue to further these connections by holding more town halls and office hours to interact with the community, they will be even more effective.
Ultimately, the Editorial Board believes that Jackson and Amanda will provide solid representation and make a good pair to lead the ASSU.
Contact the Editorial Board at opinions ‘at’ stanforddaily.com.