I want to begin by thanking my friends and family that have come here tonight to support me as I bid farewell to a long and eventful year.
I began framing my farewell speech almost from the time I took office. I often wondered if anyone would notice if I gave the same speech I gave last year. Somebody probably would have caught on about three minutes into the speech so I sat down to write a new one. The only problem with that was everybody laughed at last year's jokes and there's no guarantees here. But I sat down in front of my computer and I thought long and hard about how I wanted to look back upon my year as Vice President.
It was sometime over the summer that I decided it would not be prudent for me to make my own run for president of the Student Government. I realized that it would have been truly malfeasant for me to campaign on solving student problems when as vice president I was in power to address the things that were wrong on this campus.
It also occurred to me that I would never have the student support that my good friend and colleague Marlen Whitley commanded this year. This became strikingly clear on a Tuesday afternoon last September when a photographer from the Associated Press came to photograph this icon of student leadership.
It's actually a rather humorous and self-deprecating anecdote. I was standing in the doorway of Marlen's office, watching and laughing in a sort of mocking fashion as this old baldheaded gentleman was positioning Marlen in a stately series of shots-working hard at his desk with the view of the tower over his right shoulder.
The photographer pauses for a second to meter his light. He looks around the room and sort of snarls and then looks at me and asks me my name. Marlen quickly introduces me as Randy Cooke, his vice president. The gentleman nods and shakes my hand and says you know the lighting in this office is pretty bad-could you make yourself useful and hold my flash for me while I take pictures of Marlen? So this man had me standing on a chair, in the corner, on the table straddling the television holding his flash. You can only imagine how difficult it was for Marlen sitting at his desk trying to act serious and dignified while his vice president was hanging from the ceiling like a monkey holding this old man's flash. I have to admit, that was a very humbling moment. I think that it was that point in time that I realized that I would never be able to hold a candle to Marlen Whitley's charismatic appeal to the students of this University.
However, my decision not to run for president didn't stop me from doing the things that I thought had to be done this year-even at the expense of abandoning many of the projects that Marlen and I had planned when we came into office. I wanted my farewell speech to be a bragging rights soapbox, but in all honesty I don't think that would have typified the year. The big question that really matters is whether or not the Student Government has done its job this year. Should we pat ourselves on the back and bask in the success of our own self-important accomplishments while sweeping our failures under the rug? Or should we fairly analyze all we've done and all we've failed to do?
There were many highs and lows on the 97-98 calendar. It's only fitting and proper that we reflect upon both, as together they have forged one of the most outstanding years in the University's history. And while we can't take credit for most of the year's events, we can certainly note the impact students and the Student Government have had on this most impressive year.
We have seen the University presidency vacated by Dr. Robert Berdahl, valeted by Dr. Peter T. Flawn, and filled by Dr. Larry Faulkner. We witnessed the completion of the new Student Services Building and the renovation and reopening of Gregory Gym. And I have to say that Mr. Tom Dison and the individuals that oversaw these mammoth projects are to be commended for their hard work and dedication to student affairs.
This year, we either fumed in anger over the controversial criticisms of Affirmative Action by a UT Law professor or squalled in disgust as a result of the Rev. Jesse Jackson's caustic retort. We challenged the limits to free speech on the editorial page of The Daily Texan, while at the same time challenging the constitutionality of many University policies.
We fought the Faculty Council tooth and nail to keep CLEP exam grades included in UT GPAs-and we won. We fought administrators in the College of Communication and their exorbitant $16 per credit hour fee proposal all the way to the Board of Regents, an unprecedented feat-but we lost. For administrators though, it was a pyrric victory as it will be much more difficult in the coming years for administrators to ramrod fees absent full and complete justification. I'd like to think that this anti-fee campaign helped fail the Waller Creek Union Referendum-as more people voted against the Union than voted for Marlen or myself.
We challenged the administration to save hundreds of thousands of dollars in shuttle bus fee money by simply reconnecting Manor road at Red River-and our challenge has been met, as the plans to carry this out are within sight. We questioned the legitimacy and accuracy of Capital Metro's service information by petitioning for an audit of that service-students deserve to know exactly how efficiently or inefficiently their student dollars are being spent.
We addressed issues of accessibility for the disabled, by helping to raise concerns of safety regarding the speed limit on Dean Keeton Street.
This has been a monumental year, full of opportunity for student leadership-perhaps we've had more opportunities to lead than any other Student Government of recent memory.
But what does this mean in the big picture? Should we be concerned that a mere eight percent of the student body voted in the most recent election? Quite honestly, I don't think that we should turn our efforts to ensure more students vote next year-because those who care already do vote.
Students always want to know what Student Government does for them. It's a shame that we have to point to student services that were the brainchildren of passed student politicos to answer this question. Student Government shouldn't have to perennially spawn superfluous services to prove its existence. The University is here to provide an education-that's it, nothing more. Amenities do not promote the University pride we'd like to think they do, and we chance this hope for a stronger sense of community at the risk of turning away quality students by making education simply unaffordable.
Student Government is here to represent the students to the administration, not the other way around. It should be that our responses to the question why do we have a Student Government are so long and detailed that we spend hours explaining what we do to one person. But that's never the case. The reductive answer is always, we created the shuttle bus system, DDP, Sure Walk, and teacher evaluations.
While the significance of those accomplishments are not to be downplayed, I like to spare the trite sales pitch and refrain from engulfing curious students in the minutia of administrative politicking. You see, the Student Government has been dubbed a "political kindergarten" by those who only see people campaigning for the SG with ideas of the greatest new student services-student services that are guaranteed to bring unity and school spirit back to the University of Texas. But that's not why we have a Student Government.
I like to assure the student that the SG is working to defend his or her rights as a student and it would be noticeably absent if the SG were ever abolished or simply drifted into an indolent phase.
By design, we're given very little power as an organization. But culminating that little power with the acquisition of pressure sensitive information and learning administrative push buttons can go a long way. The Student Government should never fear the pursuit of just policy, and should never turn its back to the student body to play cards with the administration.
The Student Government Presidency can be much more powerful than people think. But the Student Assembly has a long, long way to go if it is to ever earn its keep. I'll be the first to concede that the argument for the abolition of the Student Assembly has never been stronger. As a body this year, it has failed to stand on many of the campus's biggest events. In the image-deprecating wake of the Hopwood decision, the Assembly missed the boat on the controversial comments of a UT Law professor on race-based academic performance, and again on Jessie Jackson's visit and counter-remarks. But we shouldn't stop there-the invasion of the Law School by Students for Access and Opportunity, The Daily Texan editorial controversy, the Students for Equal Opportunity being disavowed of University privileges, and the academic annex of the old student health center are just a few more of the missed opportunities this last session.
The actions that the Assembly has taken this year have been equally troubling-supporting the Union referendum that failed 3-1, appropriating $350 to the Scuba club at the cost of several hundred dollars to the National Society of Black Engineers. There were a few bright spots this year-Ken Emanuelson is trooper for fiscal conservatives on this campus, Brandon Rhymes, Andy Chun, Stephanie Schulz, Eric Opiela and Chris Garza always seemed to have a pulse on their respective colleges. But on the whole, Representatives let down their constituents. Perhaps that was my fault for not clearly outlining a year-long vision for the Assembly. Perhaps it was the fault of others for not holding members accountable for the most basic duties of their offices. But no matter how we point the finger, it will not change history and it will not change perceptions.
The Assembly must be in touch with the student body. It goes far beyond doing your office hours. It's even beyond the attendance of council meetings and the fulfillment of your speakers' circuits. It's using the opportunity with which you have been entrusted.
You all are here because you've been given a privilege. You are not better or above the student body-you are the student body. There is a real bourgeoisie attitude among SG folks that because they're elected, they're somehow above the rest. I hope that this mentality does not carry through to the next Assembly, but everybody says that they're the ones that are going to make a difference.
We come into office high on ambition, ready to conquer the world. Often our egos intoxicate us to the point that we overlook the things that really matter. All in pursuit of what we said we were going to do when we took office. What you'll find is that much of your year is spent on unexpected events, and stumbling into controversy. Contrary to popular belief the SG should be as, if not more reactive than it is proactive. Rather than building a new Union, students would rather their shuttle bus arrive when Capital Metro tells them it arrives. Rather than merely discussing campus events, students prefer to see initiative and redress. And rather than promoting a new trend, students prefer to see campus leaders challenging new fees.
Thomas Jefferson once wrote "My principle is to do whatever's right and leave the consequence to him who has the disposal of my action."
Most of the things that you should be doing for the students whom you represent, they'll never hear about. And if they do hear about it, they'll probably never wholly understand what you're doing. You mustn't get discouraged, because it's not that they're incapable of comprehending these things. It's just that many of the decisions we make are entirely too complicated to explain in one sitting. For example: We have to eliminate 10 minute breaks in UT Shuttle Bus Drivers' schedules because they aren't part of our annual 142,500 hour contract with Capital Metro-of which students pay for 138,000 hours at a cost of $4 million in student fees. Wickersham needs more buses because currently there are 4500 hundred students living on that route with another 1000 moving in next summer. But Capital Metro comes to you and says "Oops, we've been unknowingly providing 8000 extra hours of service and you need to either cut service or start paying for it." So we go to the fee committee and ask for $84,777 of the $160,000 deficit so that we can give Wickersham more service but what do we do about Far West who also needs more service because 3000 students live on that route.
If there are roughly 72 buses running at any given time, where does the additional service come from. Ah, raise student fees, that way we can afford 150,500 hours, of which students will now foot the bill for 146,000 of those hours. Try putting that in a sound byte for the one or two quotes in The Daily Texan. Anybody who could follow that and regurgitate those numbers ad nausium should really consider submitting an application to sit on the shuttle bus advisory committee next year.
For many of you that oversimplified but concededly confusing scenario was the first time you have really been given a glimpse of what students and administrators alike have to face on a regular basis. Fortunately in this case, we have students involved in the decision-making process. But many of the transactions on this campus happen beneath a cloak of arrogance, without the benefit of any student interaction. The "summer solution" is a prime example of this method in action. Students head back to school in the fall to find new fees that they never saw coming-over the summer these fees just magically appeared.
The things orchestrated behind closed doors on this campus are both fascinating and gut wrenching. You'll become privy to things that you can't even imagine, and things you wish you never knew about your University. Most of these things, you'll embrace with pride, but from time to time you'll question why things happen the way they do. It will inspire a lot of introspection and gut feelings-those feelings must guide you, that's the Orange Blood flowing.
You'll learn more about yourselves in this year than you've learned in the first two decades of your life. What are your skills, what are your weaknesses? How do you lead, and how graceful are you under fire?
It's no secret what organizations I've been a part of here at UT. Be it my fraternity experience or my affinity for Republican politics, no organization has taught me as much about who I am as Student Government. Tonight, I'd like to share some of the important lessons that I have learned in a year and six days:
Character is not defined by what battles you win. Rather, character is defined by how hard you fought the battles you lost. You make your own world. Your weaknesses are in your strengths. Your face tells it all. Do not fear. Never respond in anger. And finally, the sooner you realize that nobody's going to remember your bad interview or blown quote tomorrow morning, the more fun you're going to have doing your job.
And so on this seventh day of April, nineteen hundred ninety eight, we pass the torch to a new guard of student representatives. My favorite U.S. President, Richard Milhous Nixon, in his final remarks at the White House, said:
"Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself."
I felt this quote was appropriate because you'll soon be facing tough critics and harsh opponents whom you mustn't let under your skin. You must rise above the opposition and do what you see fit, even if that means ruffling feathers.
Many of my remarks here tonight you probably won't understand or appreciate until you've walked a mile in the shoes you're about to fill. But a year from now, you'll identify with many of my sentiments. And as you end your term, perhaps you'll look back upon your tour of duty with a different vision of what the role of Student Government should be.
To Annie, Owen, and the newly elected Student Assembly, I wish you only the best, because you've certainly earned it. Enjoy your year because in the blink of an eye you'll be up here saying your good byes. To Becky Carreon and Annie Elderbroom, thanks for all of your time and patience-you both have made life so that it's going to be difficult trying to get back on track without someone reminding me that my group from class is waiting on me in the lobby. And to Marlen Whitley, my friend, it's been an incredible ride. Thank you for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime by extending me the honor of running as your Vice President. I just hope that one day, when you're Governor of Texas or in Hollywood, that I will at least get a Christmas Card from you every year. And to those of you with whom I've had the pleasure of working this year-the list is long and distinguished, I extend my greatest appreciation. I wouldn't have traded any of this for anything in the world. Thank you all very much.