A Break from the Past

A June 2011 report by the policy think tank the Oakland Institute revealed Vanderbilt University as one of the major investors in EMVest (formerly Emergent Asset Management), an agricultural corporation accused of engaging in the exploitive practice of “land grabbing” in five African countries. The report drew from firsthand research and interviews with those affected by EMVest, and its accusations were serious and large in scale.

A group of Vanderbilt students mobilized to demand a response to the accusations from our administration. After months of pressure, a meeting was finally granted, only for administrators to tell the protestors that it was not “appropriate” for students to be concerned with investments. Numerous events and rallies followed, including a sit-in in Kirkland Hall that I helped plan and a symposium that featured the Executive Director of the Oakland Institute Anuradha Mittal and Chair of Ben & Jerry’s Corporate Board Jeff Furman. Although I always opposed the ‘“Tent City” movement as an unjustified and alienating strategy, the hard work that went into this campaign cannot be denied.

Recently, an anonymous source in the Vanderbilt administration revealed that the university had terminated its contact with EMVest and withdrawn all invested funds. Although unsung on campus, this historic victory has been covered in “The Nation” and is the first full divestment made by Vanderbilt in response to student pressure. This story of successful student activism shines in contrast to the consistently disappointing behavior of our student government.

At last year’s VSG Presidential Debate, Maryclaire Manard and her main opponent, McArthur Gill, balked at a question about the “all-comers” policy and the “land grabs” accusations, refusing to take a clear stance on either issue — an attitude that carried over into the Manard-Cherry administration.

None of this is surprising, and neither is the inaction on controversial issues that has long characterized our uniquely docile and timid student government. In 2010, to the great frustration of many students, the VSG Senate refused to vote for or against a resolution endorsing the DREAM Act, instead tabling it indefinitely. I do not mean to be unfairly critical. Our last three student body presidents all supported voting on the resolution. Generally, VSG does a truly commendable job at carrying out many difficult (and often thankless) tasks. Its members work hard and with integrity.

The problem is that a mantra of “avoid controversy” and “stick to the small stuff” reigns. No doubt this relates to the hierarchical mentality of its members who tend to draw disproportionately from the voting-block empowered Greek system, which itself tends to draw disproportionately from the more economically and socially privileged members of the student body. Another influence is likely an acceptance of authority that has characterized many of this generation’s top students, as chronicled in David Brooks article “The Organization Kid” in The Atlantic over a decade ago. 

Our student government should never be afraid to take a difficult stance. Instead, VSG has backed away from one crisis after another.

After viewing the VSG Presidential Debate, I believe that John Tucker Sigalos and Peter Hernandez (and their respective vice presidents Jessica Brunelle and Kristen Mosley) will continue with the effective leadership of Manard and Cherry. They are bright people with good ideas, especially Hernandez’s goal of bringing more leaders into the decision-making process. But they do not intend to work to reshape a system where the status quo is unacceptable. This month at Duke University, a similar student government debate was cancelled after fewer than ten students attended, a sign of what may occur here if this complacency continues.

The debate made clear that Isaac Escamilla and Lucie Calderon offer a way to avoid this fate, and I strongly endorse their ticket. I do not mean to portray them as “radicals” of any sort, but based on their performance in the debate I think they are the only candidates capable of pushing VSG into a more active direction that is able to mobilize in response to student pressure. VSG needs leaders who can take difficult stances and stand up to outside pressure, and at the debate Escamilla confirmed that he is capable of doing both.

Their qualifications in terms of experience measure up to those of the other candidates. The real differences were revealed in their effort already to reach out to student leaders and in the debate. Escamilla opened by pointing out that, “Right now, there’s this perception that people don’t know what VSG actually does,” and made changing the campus’ perception of VSG a central priority. Escamilla emphasized that he was willing to facilitate discussion and take a stance on controversial issues, saying that, “At the end of the day, sometimes we may disagree with the administration.”

Escamilla and Calderon will also be the best representatives from the community that VSG has traditionally most resembled. At the debate, Escamilla repeated his intentions to look into alternatives to the alcohol policy at Greek parties that has led to an emphasis on pregaming and an increase in alcohol-related hospitalizations, citing his own experiences as an RA on The Commons. I believe that his ticket alone has the willpower to push back against administrators on this issue and on others if called to do so.

If you have never cared about VSG before, I urge you to start caring now, as for the first time in my four years at Vanderbilt I am genuinely excited about one set of candidates. Escamilla’s proposal to have VSG fund summer and spring break service trips and unpaid internships for those who cannot afford them represents a promising way for VSG to overcome its consistent isolation from many students. Escamilla and Calderon are the best chance we have to move towards a student government that challenges the status quo, refuses to retreat from potential controversy, and reaches out to our increasingly diverse student body.

— Benjamin Ries is a senior in the College of Arts and Science and president of the Vanderbilt College Democrats. He can be reached at[email protected].