The Cavalier Daily Editorial Board has chosen to endorse Sydney Bradley for Student Council Vice President of Administration. In selecting the VPA, the board looked at several factors, such as a thorough understanding of the position and organization, clear goals for the upcoming term and dedication to the role. We believe that Bradley is the candidate who most thoroughly fulfills these qualities.
Bradley has ample experience within the Council, having been a part of the organization since her first year. Throughout her past three years on the Council, she has served as a representative for the College of Arts and Sciences, the chair of several ad hoc committees and is currently the Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee. Within that committee, she has been further involved with faculty and administration working on academic policies, marrying her “academic experience with student leadership experience.” By working her way up through the different branches of the Council, Bradley has been able to see the two functioning parts of Student Council that work to make policies — the representatives and the cabinet — and where they overlap.
She acknowledged the perceived lack of communication between the Representative Body and the executive board, saying that she has seen “a lot of frustrating tension over the past two years” but now knows what has worked and what hasn’t among the two groups. Bradley shows a willingness to work with representatives too, mentioning some expenditures that many representatives believe are superfluous and expressing hope to find some solutions for the budget.
Bradley, with firm procedures in place in her platform already, plans on tackling problems within the Council starting from the beginning of her term. She believes that currently the Council’s most pressing issue is that it is seen as an elitist and exclusive organization by other students and plans on addressing these concerns head on. Her platform involves making the Council more open to those who want to apply to Council committees by working with the chairs to create a reformed application process and going directly to community groups and CIOs to recruit — potentially even adding a temporary recruitment chair. Bradley also wants to work on increasing innovative projects for committees to establish connections with students, saying they’re the primary items that should be funded. She again touched on what she believes can be a current problem with the disconnect between representatives and the executive board, that the representatives are not voting for these projects to be funded since they may not know why these projects are necessary in the first place. Regardless, Bradley plans on pushing forward these activities to actively bring new initiatives to students and increase their interaction with the Council.
Bradley’s other activities only add to her qualifications this role. With her American Studies and Government majors, Bradley is particularly focused on telling the truth of Charlottesville history, showing her commitment to the greater surrounding community and connecting the Council and the University to the city.
Bradley was impressed with the Council’s initiative to lobby for bills and legislation, an act that she believes shows that students can actually affect policy. However, Bradley was able to differentiate herself from the previous term by calling for an enhanced connection to students by directly meeting with CIOs and individuals instead of solely showing support over social media. Overall, Bradley’s experience within the Council, willingness to connect with students and substantive platform make her the best choice for VPA.
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