The election of the Rutgers University Debate Union (RUDU) Executive Board for 2013 will be held on Tuesday, December 4th, 2012, at 9:00 PM in Murray 210.
Below are the candidate statements for all thirteen candidates for the six positions available. Please note that candidates can “drop down” to lower positions of their choice on election night if they are unelected to the position they are initially running for.
PRESIDENT
Ashley Novak (unopposed, elected)
VICE PRESIDENT
Adam Bomeisl
Alex Jubb
Arbi Llaveshi
Henry Phipps
Oksana Soomai
Russell Potter
PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIR
Deepta Janardhan
Rachel Moon
NOVICE MENTOR
Kurt Falk (incumbent)
Sean Leonard
ALUMNI COORDINATOR
Gordon Morrisette
PRESIDENT
Ashley Novak
Hi, I’m Ashley and I’m running for president of RUDU. I’ve been treasurer for almost 2 years, and have done a lot for the team while treasurer. I’ve written budgets for the team 4 times with the help of the previous president, set up the contracts necessary for our previous two tournaments and made sure everything was in place and paid for, and made sure every tournament is paid for (and that anyone who spent money was paid back as quickly as the school bureaucracy would let me). I’ve also volunteered for many events for the debate team, driven for the team to most tournaments, and stepped up to do other members’ of the eboard’s jobs when they were unavailable or just not doing their job.
I think I’d make a good president for a few reasons. First, I have a lot of experience. I’ve worked with the administration of both our school and over other schools, and have worked on the eboard for two teams. I’ve always put a lot of effort in to the eboard, and have taken on tasks that weren’t my responsibility (like handing in waivers and helping to make the tournament packet). Second, I’m incredibly devoted to the team. I spend every weekend debating and attend almost every practice. I want to continue to be actively involved in RUDU as both a competitor and a leader on the team. Finally, I also think that I’m best suited to be the representative of RUDU to the league because I’m already on the APDA board and can work closely with the league to help RUDU. Also, I’ll send in registration emails on time!
I think so far I’ve done a lot of important work for the team (in fact, we wouldn’t be a team this year if I hadn’t gotten us registered) and I want to continue to help improve the team and to represent us to both our university and the league.
VICE PRESIDENT
Adam Bomeisl
Hey, my name is Adam Bomeisl; if you don’t know me I’m kind of a big deal. Seriously though, I’m a junior who has been with the team since his freshmen year. I’m running for the position of VP. You might ask yourself, what are my qualifications? After all being VP involves a lot of different responsibilities and you want the right person for the job. There’s taking attendance at meetings and keeping track of it to see who can vote/run for e-board. I’m at basically every meeting on time so I can certainly handle taking attendance. I keep all my important records on google drive so the records could be accessed from any computer and wouldn’t be lost if my computer explodes or I lose a piece of paper or something. Another responsibility is sending emails to people every Tuesday and Thursday about meeting time/locations, accomplishments at the last tournament, etc. I have a good amount of downtime and could set some aside to send out emails to the members of our team. The VP needs to update databases relevant to the team which I could easily handle. The VP also has to handle taking care of waivers for tournaments. I have a lot of experience working with forms for debate. I was Tournament Director for our last tournament and a lot of my job was filling out the right forms and responsibly managing time. I had all classrooms reserved by September which proves that I handle responsibilities in a timely and efficient manner. The other part of my TD job was working with e-board members, SABO, and the administration to organize tournament logistics; so I have experience working with the same people and institutions I would work with as VP. From what I understand, e-board minutes falls under the responsibility of the VP (or at least they should). I fully support more e-board transparency and would be more than happy to take notes for e-board minutes. Another responsibility of the VP is to take over for the president if he/she is not around, sick, etc. I go to every meeting so I could run meetings if the president is not around. Also I go to every tournament so for APDA meetings if the president is not around, I could fill in. I have experience with APDA because I’ve been on the circuit for more than 2 years, and am well known on the circuit so I could temporarily fill in to represent Rutgers. Despite the fact that I am often sarcastic and joke around A LOT I am very responsible and take things seriously when the situation warrants it. Plus we could always use a bit of comic relief from time to time, am I right? I’m well suited for the position and I hope you will give me the opportunity to serve RUDU.
Alex Jubb
Hey everyone! I’d love to be VP this year. I don’t want to bore you to death, but here are some reasons why I want to be VP 
. I think my skills are well-suited for the position. VP is all about logistics and paperwork. This past year, I did a lot of work with logistics at our tournament and I think that it showed that I am pretty effective at getting things done. As Alumni Coordinator, I wrote and submitted a grant for RUDU’s tournament.There is also quite a bit of interaction with the administration involved. I’ve worked in a Rutgers office before and think I’d be capable of working with the administration effectively and punctually. I’m certainly open to any thoughts on what the team thinks the VP should do differently. Bhargavi has done a great job this year with sending out bi-weekly emails and I’ll be sure to continue that. Most importantly, I care a ton about RUDU and am willing to put in the work. 
Arbi Llaveshi
Hi everyone. I’m running for the position of vice president. I really love this team and want to be an integral part of its continued success. If I were to be elected vice president if the club I would work hard on all if the duties assigned to me. I would also try to expand the transparency of the board. We’re having an election right now and it’s pretty funny that we have absolutely no clue what a lot of board members have contributed in their positions. If I was VP I would consistently hold every other member of the board accountable for their votes and the ways they attempted to affect the team. I would take the role of transcribing every meeting very seriously, and wouldn’t shirk on that duty. The board continually makes decisions that affect us day to day and they should be held accountable for their decisions more than once per year. I would also attempt to reduce the board’s ability to exclude members from club activities because I personally believe that when we start excluding varsity from things like the novice retreat based on personal preference we create a negative environment. We don’t need to treat every event like a hostage crises.
I’ve been called chaotic before and while the word comes nowhere near to defining me as a person, I do admit I have a rebellious nature. I believe this allows me to be confrontational when it is called for. I am not the type of person who is afraid to voice his opinions. I want to be not only a rational voice on the board but a critical one. I think I can be down to earth If I am elected and I’m looking forward working with everyone to make this team a better, more inclusive group.
Henry Phipps
Hey RUDU, I want to personally thank you for past year and a half. Not only have you all been a team, but you’ve also been a wonderful group of people I personally feel connected to, a family if you will. That being said, I want to give back to the group of people that has done so much for me, and this is why I’m running to be your Vice President. I believe, by electing me to be your VP, I can be a valuable member of the E-Board, and representative of RUDU to the school at large.
I believe I’m the correct choice for the VP position for multiple reasons. First off, I can execute on clearly defined goals. The VP position is about being able to carry out weekly tasks in order for the team to function and go to tournaments. Tasks like these are submitting waivers and itineraries, updating the listserv, and sending out emails in a systematic fashion. I showed some of this during my time as the PR Chair of the team. Both semesters I organized a scrimmage with the TCNJ team (only to have the second one be canceled by a hurricane, go figure), as well as getting the team sweatshirts and increasing the number of mentions in the Targum. During the Rutgers tournament, I was quick and efficient in not only reg-ing teams soon after they sent Rutgers their registration information, but I made housing quick and easy for Rutgers and other teams. At the same time, I understand that as PR Chair I could have done a more thorough job in reaching out to the Rutgers community. I recognize the mistakes I’ve made and I believe I can build upon those in order to further the team’s interests. Since VP has more concrete goals, I believe it’s a position that I’m better suited to fulfill.
The second reason I believe I could do well as your VP is how I interact with people. Since much of the VP role is dependent on being able to converse and interact with people, you are going to want to elect someone who you feel comfortable being a representative of the team. For one, being a liaison to the administration and patiently working with them to get the team needs. This also includes working with APDA as a body. As VP, I’ll participate in APDA meetings acting as a backup representative in order to see that RUDU’s interests are not overlooked in the grand scheme. I believe I would be an excellent candidate for this. I like to think of myself as a friendly individual who can easily work with people, at the same time not lose track of what’s important. Having many connections within APDA, both north and south, I think I could be a fine representative for Rutgers.
The final thing I want to talk about is my relationship with the team. Electing a VP is electing someone you want to be your voice not only to the school, but also to the E-Board. It is important that the people of the RUDU be represented and informed of the decisions of the E-Board. This relationship has been had a few bumps in the past semester and I personally want to be the intermediary that helps with a less contentious relationship amongst all members of the team. As VP, I will help relay information related to E-Board meetings. I believe that our team is also based off of the idea that we not only want to do well, but also have fun. I don’t believe that constraining the team is in its best interest and I hope to help facilitate people being more involved in their choices, such as deciding when/where we split, or what kind of activities the team would like to organize.
At the end of the day you need to make a decision on who you’re voting for. I sincerely hope that when you cast your vote you are voting for whomever you believe will do the most good for the team, whether or not it’s me. That said, I do believe that a vote in confidence in me is a good step in furthering the interests of the team here at Rutgers and in APDA. I want to give back to this team and help it grow, and that is why I ask for your vote at elections. Thank you.
Oksana Soomai
So what I’ve gathered from the descriptions about the vice president is that you need to be at least 2 things: dependable and organized. It goes without saying that I believe I have these qualities but this isn’t about my belief in my abilities but all of you guys believing I can do it. It is difficult to convey the trait of “dependable” or “organized” over a 3 month timespan but I still believe I have demonstrated enough overall responsibility to be deserving of the vice president position.
Dependable: I am always at meetings save for 6, and each time I missed I posted about it in the facebook group to just let everyone know, whether or not you guys even cared. Also, I am not just here on time but early, sitting in the same exact spot. Seriously, you guys can depend on the fact I will be at most meetings, sitting in my anti-social corner. In addition, anytime I have dropped from a tournament I have always done it the Sunday before the tournament to not leave my partner hanging. I try to do everything in a timely fashion to make sure no one is waiting on my response or unsure of my actions. I am a consistent person as well, typically giving everything in early and I do not freak out when it comes to handling official work. Even on the occasion I do freak out, I still maintain composure. No matter the situation, I am a person who can be counted on to come through and someone who will rise to the occasion. As your vice president, I would be a person to count on to be here and be able to just help the team in anyway I possibly can.
Organized: I am extremely organized but it is not just that I like being organized. I also like rearranging things so that they become organized. I excel at keeping things in place, making sure they stay in place and if they are not in place, I will make them that way. I will try to reduce the amount of miscommunication and make sure that everything is the way it should be. I will ensure that my area of control in the club will not be in any disarray.
Now, I can also understand your lack of faith in a novice being in charge of such an important part of the debate team but the majority of the work required by the vice president is work I have already done. When I did debate in high school all four years, I handled the paperwork such as field trip forms, keeping track of attendance at meetings, emailing teachers, etc… I am used to doing this type of work already and I am very good at it. Also, I can work well with authority and keep good relations with them. When I want to be, I can be nice and enthusiastic.
Overall, I just really enjoy being on this team. Everyone is really awesome and I really love being in this overeager atmosphere. I feel that with me as your vice president, we can keep up the carefree attitude and not have any of you guys worrying over pesky paperwork or forms. Instead, I will do the worrying for you and handle everything with ease. So vote for me if you believe that I will do a good job of being your vice president.
Russell Potter
Hi! Russell here, and I’m running for Vice President of RUDU! I’m entering the second half of my sophomore year, working towards a degree in business law. Having seen the successes and pitfalls of E-Board members past, I hold a unique combination of traits, which make me your ideal candidate. To these ends, I have three points as to why you should vote for me.
1. Dedication – Barring my first semester, I have made it a policy of attending nearly every tournament, meeting, and doing practice rounds every available night. I’ve been highly successful on the circuit, and demonstrated a marked improvement, which has inspired me to reach new heights. Every time I go to do just about anything, debate is in the back of my mind, a reminder of a higher duty. If something needs to be done, I make sure I’m there serving the team, helping it achieve. I’ve volunteered to run debates, participated in demo rounds for recruitment trips, driven to tournaments, offered my car up for transportation, organized team dinners, and am willing to offer anything, even something as small as a ear to listen, to my fellow teammates.
2. Responsibility – As a student who is trying to create my own major and is maintaining a 3.79 GPA, responsibility and organization is a tenant of how I live. I’ve slowly begun to take upon myself an increasing amount of responsibility to assist both present E-board members, as well as the team as a whole. A great example is with the tournament last year, where an oversight caused us to not have Internet access for our tournament. When I found out about the issue, I took it upon myself to navigate the Rutgers bureaucracy to get individual accounts for each and every debater and judge at the tournament. Moreover, I’ve made certain to do things like gather receipts and store cash while on trips, holding myself financially liable for any losses that may occur. I’ve done an excellent job at both maintaining the receipts and organizing them for the treasurer. The majority of the job of VP is organizing paper and dealing with the bureaucracy, and these experiences make me quite experienced with it.
3. Goals – This is something that any good candidate needs to show how they will make a long lasting, positive mark on the team. To these ends, I’ve listened to opinions about what most needs to change about the team and E-board in general, and compiled three areas, which I would work towards improving if elected.
- Inclusive Policymaking: Many people have expressed opinions of feeling left out with regards to executive decisions. The very recent publication of minutes is a step in the right direction, but it can be better. There are better ways we should include the team, and if elected, I will seek to promote improved interaction between the club and the E-board, something that is often distant. I would be willing to discuss issues that occur in E-board meetings with those who ask (not just dismiss it as something we’d discuss in a meeting), and would be willing to write detailed minutes, not just the week before elections, so that the team knows exactly where we stand.
- Increased Funding: The team is facing cutbacks, and you need someone who is willing to work with Rutgers’ system, to be a representative who will help us achieve proportionate funding to support our ever-increasing growth. I also would be willing to aid in fundraising efforts and work cohesively with the PR chair to establish sponsors for the club, as it becomes necessary to do so in these tough times.
- Long Term Growth: The team is growing at a rapid rate, with our past two years yielding the top novice classes in Rutgers’ history. With such growth, we are making major strides, like our working in union with the School of Communication, TCNJ, high school programs, and other organizations to make our team one of the most successful and well known. I have the willingness and fortitude to make our team excel even further, and will support this team no matter what.
At the end of the day, there are a lot of qualified candidates who are running for an E-board position, and even if you decide I am not right for the VP position, I am willing to work for you, either on the E-board or off it, to make RUDU as great as I know it can be.
Cheers.
TREASURER
Quinn Maingi
Hey everyone, my name is Quinn and I’m running for E-board for the position of treasurer.
The treasurer’s main job in to maintain good relations with SABO and get money for each tournament. A treasurer is also responsible for finances of the tournament and maintaining good relations with the administration, all of which require similar skills.
These functions of the treasurer require several skills, of which I will highlight three to elucidate why I am the best candidate for the job.
The first of these is dedication to the team. It is very important that a treasurer to be dedicated because they need to be able to continue focusing on their job, as well as being present at as many tournaments as possible to do all of their responsibilities. I think I am pretty clearly very dedicated to the team: I spend a lot of time at the debate house and doing practice rounds, and have literally never missed a tournament, which no one else on the debate team can claim. At that point, it will be easy for me to translate my commitment to the debate team to fulfilling the above mentioned responsibilities of the treasurer.
The second fact that is important for the treasurer is knowledge. Knowledge is important for the treasurer because SABO has some rather tense employees that mandate you stick to a rigid procedure. I have a good amount of knowledge about the positions of the team in terms of SABO and finance. The first reason is that I frequently conversed with the previous treasurer, Ashley Novak, about the procedures that are used with SABO. I also am the only member of the club that attended the treasurer training session in the fall, at which I learned both general SABO procedures and other things we have to do on the debate team because we may not fit entirely in the rules and have to go through special procedures to finance our trips. At that point, I clearly understand the procedures to be treasurer and will be best suited for the job.
The third thing that is important for treasurer is being relaxed. This is important because the job of the treasurer can often be a very stressful job and would lead to both worse performances as a treasurer and less general success in debate. This is also important because it is very bad if you freak out at SABO employees, so you still need to be very relaxed. I am clearly very relaxed in terms of my general persona and the way I act around the team. I can easily deal with stressful jobs, and stay focused and deal with the job easily.
PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIR
Deepta Janardhan
Hey RUDU, it’s been an awesome year for us so far. I’m running for PR Chair on the e-board to try to make it even better.
The PR chair has several distinct obligations to the team, which I believe that I am most qualified to fulfill.
1) To promote the Rutgers Debate team to the larger Rutgers community.
So far, we have tried to contact the Targum and keeping them informed of news events. In addition to this, I would shift to making Rutgers Debate a bigger presence on campus in other ways, such as by signing up for involvement fairs, and putting up posters for general meetings and RUDU events. I think that one of our main goals should be to eventually make Debate a club that everyone at Rutgers automatically accepts to be a completely integral part of campus life. This will help us attract talented students who already attend our school. Throughout my three years at Rutgers, I have gotten to know many different people on campus whom I would be able to contact to help us achieve this. Finally, I would work to ensure that RUDU always has a seat at the table, in terms of the administration’s priorities.
2) To work out the logistics of various inter- and intra- school events.
This includes scheduling the above-mentioned involvement fairs, but also, planning some of the public debates that we usually try to have. In the past, Storey has ended up shouldering a lot of the burden for these extra events, and I would be willing to take on a lot of this responsibility. As many of you know, I am the tournament director for the March 2013 tournament. During the course of that event, I would have to perform many of these tasks, such as budget planning, scheduling, and talking to the administration. This would allow me to gain an insight into the nuances of Rutgers administration, and learn the “tricks” that are needed to get work done in a timely, effective manner, which would make me best suited to plan other events going forward.
I would also continue to work with other schools’ debate teams, such as how we have in the past with TCNJ. A few years ago, we had a Kings-Queens debate event with Columbia University, outside of the regular APDA schedule. This might be another example of something I’d work to plan, as part of re-forming connections with APDA Central.
3) To foster a sense of camaraderie on RUDU amongst its members.
In my opinion, this might be the most important duty of PR chair which has been under-addressed in the past. One aspect of this is, of course, doing things for the team which they request, such as ordering sweatshirts or varsity jackets that members would enjoy. The larger spirit of this is all about encouraging members of the team in their efforts, offering advice whenever it is solicited, and performing basic conflict-resolution when people ask for it.
This is especially important, considering the PR chair’s role with respect to the e-board. They should be someone who can represent the team’s interests as a whole, while still keeping in mind the e-board’s duties.
Ultimately, the PR chair needs to be someone who is responsible and practical enough to do whatever needs to be done, while still being approachable and easy-going enough to project a great image of RUDU, and I believe that I will fit into this role well.
Rachel Moon
Hey guys! I want to run for the PR position because I think our team is awesome, but not many people really know just how awesome we are. I have a lot of connections with people in RUSL (RU Student Life) and the leaders of other organizations on campus through my position on the RUSA Allocations Board, and not only am I always telling people about how great and highly-ranked our team is, but I also have an office right next to the Targum office. It would be really easy for me to badger them if they don’t respond to my incessant emails, should they choose not to respond (because apparently this is a problem that we’ve been having). In general, I just would really love to spread our team’s reputation even more and garner more attention to us, and I promise that I’d be good at this. I’ve gone to every tournament this year (except Swat Novice and Yale IV, obviously) and I like this team a lot. But I have noticed that there’s all this controversy over the whole “transparency” issue, and I think that’s because the E-Board is lacking someone who talks to literally everyone about everything… which is me. I also really want to break this conceived notion that you can’t have an opinion or an important role in the team if you’re not a super highly-ranked debater. I think a lot of incoming members think this, and I want to show everyone that that’s absolutely not true. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re first or billionth on the SOTY board – this is everyone’s team, and I want to make sure that we bridge a lot of the gap between all the members and the E-Board as well as between novices and varsity, and I truly believe that I could do all of this and more if I were on the board.
NOVICE MENTOR
Kurt Falk
As your incumbent Novice Mentor, I am extremely excited to be running for the position once again. Through my experience as an e-board member this year I believe I fulfilled my duty to the highest extent in my approach to the Novice Mentor Position.
Novice Mentor was a brand new position re-introduced last year. This required me not to just fulfill the basic requirements of the job but to also set the precedent for how all future novice mentors should act. I completed this challenge by taking the initiative needed to make a new, untested position succeed. I shaped the Novice Mentor Position by doing the following:
Organizing and Running Novice Training Workshops: Throughout the semester I led workshops that were focused around improving Novice debaters in debate practicum. It was an endeavor that I took upon myself and believed them integral to the success and improvement of the novice class.
Reaching out to High School debaters: The future of our team relies on getting a continuing stream of members once they enter Rutgers. Over my tenure, I took active steps to achieve this goal by personally visiting High Schools in the Fall of 2011, organizing an Open House for interested students, and taking charge of summer recruiting efforts, including manning the Summer Orientation fair interest table.
Introducing Novices to the Team: One of my favorite aspects of Novice Mentor was connecting with the new members of the team and making sure they felt acclimated to the team atmosphere as well as removing any obstacles they may have had towards learning debate. This was evident in my proactive behavior at tournaments, where I made sure to check in with every novice after rounds and would prep and cheer on novice teams that broke to novice out rounds. I took a similar approach at meetings, where I would forgo my own practice rounds to teach new members the basics of debate. This is perhaps the most integral role of the Novice Mentor and it’s a role that my personality and experience make me uniquely suited for.
In addition to solidifying the Novice Mentor position, I tried to take advantage of my position on the-board in ways that benefited the whole team. One of my favorite additions to the team traditions is the Senior Banquet. From inception to implementation, I organized and planned every action, from making the menus, renting the space, collecting the money, and creating the activities.
You will find no other candidate that has accomplished what I have done as Novice Mentor. I have proved, above and beyond, my ability to fulfill the position. Not only that, I also have the approachability needed for someone who deals with making new people feel comfortable. Also, I make sure to look out for everyone on the whole team, from our most active varsity to the newest member. It means that if I’m elected I’ll always be able to advocate for what’s in the best interest of the team instead of my own selfishness or the advocacy of select friends.
If you elect me for Novice Mentor, you’ll get someone who won’t just sit in place and only do the bare minimum. You’ll get someone who has shown they have the initiative, the experience, and the right attitude to get things done and make the Rutgers Debate Union even better than before.
(Still not convinced? Here is a list of Kurt’s lesser known, but still worthwhile accomplishments)
-Was born in a log cabin in the foothills of suburban New Jersey
-Decided to become a Religion Studies major for the money
-Commutes to Rutgers by sailing down the Raritan on a converted 1967 Buick
-Was the lead ukulele player for a polygamist-lesbian-folk-glamrock band called Slippery Slope but quit over creative differences
-Related to that, Kurt also coined the term “Slippery Slope”, but not for the reasons that you would guess
-Still believes that Mother Night will become a major world religion after his violent martrydo…..um…..I mean peaceful death of natural causes
-Has such an adverse fear of snakes that he has minor trouble eating spaghetti because the resemblance of the noodles to the reptile is just too uncanny
Sean Leonard
The office of Novice Mentor requires a select set of attributes in order to fulfil it’s entire responsibility. This responsibility is not one to be taken lightly, as it arguably determines the success of the entire team, even if that success manifests a year or two after the actions of the office itself. To be an effective Novice Mentor, you have to adequately balance training, recruitment, and retention of new people. If any of these factors are neglected, then the team, as a whole, will suffer as a result. Understanding this, I, Sean Leonard, would like to declare my intent to seek the position of Novice Mentor, promising to fulfill the three attributes of being a novice mentor to the best of my ability.
As a novice myself, I have a unique perspective of recently joining debate, with the memory of my first tournament, or even my first round, still highly prominent in my mind. This not only allows me to relate to the people I would be helping in a beneficial way, but also be able to pinpoint certain issues that I remember going through in the beginning. In addition to this, although my total time in Debate has been short, my participation has been the maximum I could possibly muster. I’ve been able to participate in every tournament, the novice retreats, while only missing one meeting the entire semester. From the practice rounds at the debate house, to participating in the debate class, to volunteering in the debate team public recruitment opportunities, I’ve done my best to participate 100% in the club, and that same work ethic will be replicated if I’m elected here.
Considering there are three main attributes of a good Novice Mentor, I’d like to talk a bit about why I can easily fulfill and excell at each of them. Firstly, I am obviously more than capable at training novices in the basic rules of debate. There have been multiple times where I had to help out other novices or partners with learning, or casing, or whatever was required at the time. Due to the fact I’ve been working alongside novices the entire semester, I’ve acquired some valuable experience. However, I must admit that there is much I still do not know about Debate. Whatever short falls that I have in that capacity will be made up by the wealth of experience held by the remainder of the team. Obviously, the role of the novice mentor is not to teach everything, but rather, to facilitate basic understanding.
Secondly, the recruitment of new novices is highly important to team efficiency. I feel as though our current recruitment methods are more than adequate for the needs of the team as it stands now. Through a combination of the novice retreats, standard recruitment at activity fairs, as well as a little bit of press regarding our accomplishments, we can achieve the steady flow of people required to support the team in the long term.
Finally, retention of new recruits is arguably as important as the recruitment of them in the first place. Retention, in my opinion, is the area where the most potential good can be done. The reality is, a lot of people simply cannot be swayed to join debate, or even in some cases, try it out. Call in fear of public speaking, or simple disinterest, but we’ve all met the person who simply won’t entertain the idea of joining. Therefore, we need to focus highly on the people who show interest in the start, and try to facilitate a common image that incorporates them, and puts them in a position where they want to succeed. Having a novice mentor who is a novice themselves probably contributes to this, but additional measures are obviously required to ensure that more people stay on, ensuring a high overall skill level of the team itself.
In summation, I pledge to show the same amount of activity as Novice Mentor as I portrayed as a simple novice. Also, Vote Communist.
Thank You,
Sean Leonard
☭☭☭☭☭☭
ALUMNI COORDINATOR
Our debate team has greatly developed over the past four years. We now have two coaches, half a house, and we take more teams in a single weekend that we would send in a semester. The dangers we face, as we grow and change, are that alumni no longer feel the debate team is the same club they were part of and that RUDU as an organization become unsustainable.
As a fifth-year senior next year, I will be one of the only members of the team who personally knows the alumni from my freshman year. A familiar face, while not a panacea, can help create a sense of continuity and will aid in outreach. As Alumni Coordinator, I would advocate for the alumni on the e-board in order to bring back the traditions they held dear and to support their interests.
RUDU’s most pressing concern over the next year will be diversifying its income streams to insure sustainability. We should be looking for companies to sponsor our tournament, connecting with Rutgers alumni to fund our team or trips, and applying for more grants. I’m running for Alumni Coordinator because I feel this position which offers the greatest opportunity to give back to the team and help build a stronger and more lasting financial foundation for the years to come.
