Hi Colby! We, Berol Dewdney and Rachel Jacobs, are running to be your Student Government Association (SGA) president and vice president! We believe our experience as leaders on this campus and enthusiasm for promoting Colby community values shows we are the best ticket to represent the student body in the upcoming year!

Since freshman year, we have shown ourselves to be proven leaders. Berol is currently Colby’s Gender and Sexual Diversity Resource Officer and also serves on the Gender and Sexual Diversity Ad-Hoc college committee. She has spent the past one-and-a-half years working with the administration, faculty, trustees and students to establish a full-time Gender and Sexual Diversity Program director within the school administration, as well as to provide student support and educational programming. As leader of the Feminist Alliance and The Bridge and captain of the cross-country team, Berol’s peers recognize her unmistakable leadership skills.

Rachel was 2013 class president during her freshman and junior years. During her sophomore year, she remained involved in SGA as a class council member. Currently, she represents the student voice on two SGA committees: college affairs committee and SGA judiciary committee. Furthermore, her position as Domestic Affairs Editor of Outside Colby enables her to speak to student groups across the campus.

If elected as SGA president and vice president, we will be sure to listen to all students’ voices on all issues. We know there are a number of diverse opinions, and we will dedicate our time as leaders to ensure the entirety of the student body is heard. We have four tangible goals for SGA next year: better support diversity and multiculturalism; advance community spirit, values and campus ownership; evaluate and improve college systems by promoting accessibility and transparency; and stimulate campus integration and diversify social culture. We don’t only want students to feel safe at Colby; we want students to feel safe and feel properly embraced by the community so they can reach their fullest potential. To support diversity and multiculturalism at Colby, we assert the need for Colby to be inclusive of different races, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, economic backgrounds, ages, abilities, sexual orientations and spiritual values. To do this, we plan to revamp orientation processes and wellness seminar programs and examine the possibility of a multicultural literacy class requirement. We want to advance community spirit, values and campus ownership. Of course, we want students to love Colby, but we also want them to be proud. As leaders of SGA, we will foster a deeper sense of community, school spirit, campus ownership and integration because we believe that community infringements (vandalism, academic dishonesty or misconduct) stem from a lack of community. We want to promote student-to-student mentorship, and pursue and develop a Student Honor Code and Community Contract.

If elected, we also want to evaluate and improve college systems by promoting the accessibility and transparency of information. From the much-needed website revamps, to making college protocols more accessible to the student body, we aim to improve the efficiency and effectiveness. We want clear, streamlined and accessible information. To do this, we will better assess the effectiveness of clubs and re-do the SGA website to enhance accessibility to college resources. Further, we would hold some SGA office hours in more public and accessible settings so students feel more comfortable approaching us with their ideas, comments and concerns.

Finally, we want to stimulate campus integration and diversify social culture. Colby has so many incredible components of student life. From academic endeavors to the arts and athletics, and to social life, we have so much to boast about. However, the problem lies in disconnect between these facets: disconnect between student groups and cultures on campus. We will connect these populations through partnership programs, further diversify them and have them more aptly represented in SGA. We want to promote club collaboration, create school-wide SGA Partnership Programs and improve the registered party system.

We are running for SGA president and vice president because, even though we love Colby, we see opportunities for improvement. We have a vision to make the community more inclusive, student information and support more accessible and social culture more enjoyable. Our agenda is your agenda, so, please feel comfortable approaching us at any time with your ideas, concerns and ways we can help you. We know how to get things done. Vote for Berol Dewdney and Rachel Jacobs for SGA president and vice president! Your Vote, Your Voice.