April 15, 2005
www.guilfordian.com
On the record with Community Senate's Ali Stewart
Ben Kell
Staff Writer
On March 22, Ali Stewart 'O6
was elected Senate presi
dent for the 2005-2006 school year.
The Guilfordian met with Stewart to
talk to her about Senate's role at
Guilford and overcoming student
apathy.
How long have you been working
for student government?
As I first-year, I showed up to
meetings even though I didn't have
a position, out of interest. My soph
omore year, I was secretary for
(Student) Union and on Steering
Committee. This year, I was secre
tary for Senate. I've been fairly
involved.
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GUILFORDIAN STOCK PHOTO
L to R: John Holt (Trs.), Leise Gergely (VP), Stewart, and
Lily Sharpless (Sec) will serve as Community Senate
executives for the 2005-06 year
What sparked your interest in stu
dent politics?
I'm a political science major. I
think that's part of it. I see there's
certain ways set up within an institu
tion to make students' voices heard.
Do you think that's the role
Senate plays, to make student
voices heard?
I know a lot of students feel like
we aren't heard very much. I feel
like Senate is an avenue for voicing
student opinion.
The more power students give it,
the more power it would have.
I sense an apathy on campus. I
think Senate is a way of giving stu
dents a place to have their opinions
heard, so things can happen
Speaking of apathy, your party
was the only one to run in the
Senate elections. Do you think
that's a sign of people not invest
ing very much confidence in
Senate?
It's the first year that I've been
here that a party has run un-contest
ed for Senate. (In the past), not only
has it been tight races, in the last
several years, there have been
cases of contested elections, people
double-counting votes and what-not.
I was really surprised by how difficult
it was this year to find a group of
students who wanted to commit to
running for Senate.
How can Senate combat apathy? I
think of the one most important ways
golf course, where there is proven
student interest. (Getting them done)
will show that Senate does help with
projects like this; it does make them
happen. Student issues need to be
addressed.
It seems like a major challenge for
Senate to speak for all people. It
often seems like Guilford has a
fractured student identity, many
different voices, and I imagine it's
hard to have to speak for all stu
dents.
Yes, I think it's very difficult. Even
though it's a very small school, there
are very different students, and it's
really hard to know everyone at the
same time. But, I think it's important
NEWS
to try and extend
Senate to all people.
How do you plan to
stay in touch with
the student body
next year? Well, one
of the things we did
this year was to put
up a bulletin board to
explain Senate to
everyone. Also, we've
met in the caf every
Wednesday. Just hav
ing more of a pres
ence on campus is
important. Also the
Guilfordian column
we've been doing this
last year. I think these
are all amazing ways
to keep our name out
there, and to get peo
ple to know we are.
One of our goals is to
have a website up
that has useful infor
mation that people can
use.
is show
ing that
when
Senate
decides
to do
some
thing, it
gets
done. For
instance,
there
have
been a
couple
propos
als, like
the rock
climbing
wall and
the
Frisbee
And you're going to build a web
site? Yes, and to have a calendar of
events for every weekend. This
weekend, there's so much stuff
going on, but not everybody knows
about it. We need a calendar to let
everybody, all the different clubs,
know what everybody else is doing,
so they can network and help each
other out.
It sounds like your main goal for
next year, and your main chal
lenge, will be uniting people.
Yes, uniting and making communi
cation (easier). Colleges are essen
tially bureaucratic institutions.
Cutting out the red tape?
Exactly.
Do you really think you'll be able
to make a change?
I think change takes longer than
some people think, or would like.
You know, Senate is not going to,
overnight, prove itself as a reliable
organization on campus, because for
so many years, whether it's been
true or not, students haven't
believed that it is. I think by having
stability in the next year, and the
years to come-although this is not
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BEN GULLEY/GUILFORDIAN
Ali Stewart will serve as president of Community
Senate for the 2005-06 school year
going to happen until after I've grad
uated-people will think of Senate as
a much stronger organization. I think
my executives and I will be part of
getting Senate to that place, but I
don't believe it will happen immedi
ately, unfortunately. But, I do think
that little things like making commu
nication easier, helping clubs con
nect, that kind of thing, can happen
over the next year.3€
GUILFORDIAN STOCK PHOTO
On the record with Ben Kelly
Page 3
Greensboro, N.C.