Biography

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2009-2010 Candidacy Statement

I’m declaring my candidacy to be the next President of the Cornell Democrats. As an organization, we have a great deal to be proud of, from the many Democrats we’ve helped to get elected, the speakers we have brought to campus and the many other activities we have organized.

However, despite these successes, over the course of the year we have seen a gradual decline in our meeting attendance and the general activity level of our organization. In the coming year I believe it is essential that we increase the scope and membership of the Cornell Democrats by focusing on three main goals: increased advocacy of Democratic causes, strengthening our ties to other progressive organizations and most of all, integrating these pursuits with more social activities and parties.

With regard to activism, there is no shortage of worthy causes on the national and local levels which we can and should pursue, from legalizing same-sex marriage in New York to the enduring issue of universal health care to the struggle of university workers all around us to make ends meet on a Cornell salary. After eight years disastrous years, we finally have a President in the White House who is fighting for our values, we should too. To pursue these progressive causes, it is essential that we strengthen our ties to like-minded organizations such as COLA, the GSA and countless others to pool resources and overcome the constant challenges we face in organizing any event or campaign. By working with other groups, we can reduce our costs, increase size of our coalition and generally increase our potential for making a positive impact.

Lastly, we need to increase the social appeal of our organizations. This is not to say that we should abandon any of the organizational values we hold dear or to sell our standards for larger numbers. However, by increasing the number of social events we have as an organization and tying them into our other causes, we can enjoy ourselves while we are demonstrating what it means to be Democrats.