The editorial board’s pick for Sen. Pres.

Good leadership is hard to come by, and it takes team work and a willingness to humble yourself before the people you serve. Being a public servant requires casting aside your own agenda. It asks you to be willing to listen to the concerns of your people and cast aside whatever privilege your position offers  you. Leadership requires you to stand up for what’s right in the face of adversity.

And as the Student Senate elections are under way, we are pausing to reflect on the promises the Presidential candidates made during the debate Monday evening in the Rita E. King Library. All candidates made compelling arguments and statements which caught our ears, and it was difficult to decide who to endorse.

However, when the editorial board met to discuss if we should endorse a candidate, we reviewed our notes and the audio recording, and are convinced that Nathaniel Brown, sophomore of Rapid City, South Dakota, will be best fit for Student Senate President.

A continuing frustration for The Eagle reporters and editors has been the level of access to executive board meetings, agendas, and the general lack of communication between the Senate executive board and the rest of campus. Brown has shared these frustrations, and mentioned that the reputation of Senate as “high and mighty” needs to be dispelled.

He is committed to a number of principles which we find appealing. Brown spoke of a commitment to complying with the Open Meetings Laws, about collaborating with the opinion editor and writing a weekly column to give the student body a picture of what is going on inside the Senate leadership.

This is a breath of fresh air, and we feel that he would be adequately using an already student-funded resource to engage students and get people more involved in the Senate affairs. But his commitment to leadership doesn’t simply stop at collaborations with The Eagle.

Brown has affirmed that he will make connections with other organizations on campus, because each and every club has something to bring to the table. Senate is not the only leadership body on campus, and it’s not the highest leadership body on campus. We feel that collaborating with clubs by harvesting the ideas of the already strong and competent leadership of the tightly-knit campus organizations can provide what Senate is currently lacking.

We think the perception is in the power distance; Senate doesn’t feel approachable by students. So when you can’t come to the mountain, it would be expected that the mountain would come to you.

That mountain is Nathaniel Brown. Brown seems willing to stick up for students and stand by his decisions. He is committed to partnering with others, rather than telling others what to do.

In our minds, those are the qualities in the leader we would like to see as the face of the CSC Student Government. We know that it takes a lot of work to be a student leader, but any leader who humbles themselves and asks others for help is a leader we want to work with.

So again, it is The Eagle editorial board’s pleasure to endorse Nathaniel Brown for Student Senate President. Regardless of whether you agree with our endorsement, please make sure you cast your vote and let your voice be heard.