Three tickets are in the running for Student Government co-presidents. The candidates are Faith Jackson and Irfan Mahmud, both rising 2Ls; Billy Wright and Noelle Graham, both rising 3Ls; and Sam Vallejo and Micah Burbanks-Ivey, both rising 3Ls. The Record interviewed all three tickets.
Record: What sort of qualities are important in Student Government Co-Presidents? How do you feel you embody those qualities?
Faith & Irfan: Co-presidents should be engaging, empathetic, and effective. Engagement means being responsive and well-integrated with the student body. We embody this in our communities and hope to represent them in office. Empathy is thinking through the problems of classmates and addressing them. We embody this when we see friends having a harder time connecting with professors and we work to create first generation faculty mentors. Being effective means if the student body wants headshots, get it done. We embody this by not dragging our feet but identifying key obstacles and finding creative solutions, e.g., getting the Coop to sponsor.
Billy & Noelle: The most important thing for any leader is a deep commitment to the well-being of one’s constituents. We love our community. This place is home to us. And we are willing to fight hard to protect our people. A commitment to service is vital. This position is not about us; it is about serving our community. Finally, determination and grit are essential. Problems like mental health and enhancing diversity are not solved overnight. We believe we embody these qualities. If our word is not enough, our lengthy records of fighting for our students on student government should speak for themselves.
Sam & Micah: First, willingness to depart from the status quo of complacency to effectuate systematic change. Working for a more transparent and affordable HLS is not the easiest goal, but it’s necessary. Second, a pulse on the actual concerns of the student body. Students are outraged at our skyrocketing tuition of $102,800, they’re ready to do something about it. Third, diversity of experience, and ability to unite. Between us we represent: APALSA, Alianza, BLSA, and 2 years of student government. Finally, and most importantly: Belief in the Student Body — we don’t believe ‘Students can’t make real change.’ We’re advocates, educators, the future of the legal profession.
Record: What are the biggest areas that need improvement at HLS? What are the biggest barriers to change at HLS, and what are your plans for overcoming those obstacles and making important changes?
Faith & Irfan: HLS needs a cohesive community. We both love our respective affinity groups, none of which overlap, but what we would love is to feel like in addition to being part of these communities, we are part of an HLS community. Identity does not always decide who shares our perspectives when debating in the classroom on a weekday, or who will dance to the same music when going to Icon on a weekend. But without programming like a fun beach outing or interest-based pre-orientation programs, it’s hard to find spaces to connect with people whom we enjoy spending time with.
Billy & Noelle: First and foremost, we need to address our health and wellness crisis. We need better access to mental health resources, more awareness of what resources exists, and more social acceptance of seeking treatment. We need a more welcoming community and modifications to the curriculum to fight the root causes of anxiety. And we need more support for students to pursue physical fitness, healthy diets, and greater mindfulness. We will accomplish these by better monitoring the state of health and wellness at HLS, and advocating for change to both HLS and to the wider University, as CAMHS is a university body.
Sam & Micah: HLS should be transparent. When important decisions are made about us, our voices should be in the room. HLS should be accountable. A degree shouldn’t be a “debt sentence,” and no one should be forced to enter — or remain — in BigLaw because of debt or inadequate LIPP. HLS should be representative — promoting faculty and student diversity. The biggest obstacle is often ourselves. Too often we’re told the student body cannot address systematic change. We’re told it’s unrealistic, too hard or to settle on meaningless improvements. If we gave up when faced with challenges, we wouldn’t be here.
Record: What made you decide to run for Student Government? Why should students elect your ticket over the others?
Faith & Irfan: We have a vision for the law school inspired by all the conversations we have had with students throughout this process. Fun and inclusive means more than having parties and bringing in diversity; it means creating a cohesive social fabric that includes everyone. We want to make HLS a better experience for all. We hope you’ll join us. We bring pragmatic problem-solving from our consulting experience, compassion and energy to execute our ideas, and different perspectives on a variety of issues. These qualities will empower us to advocate best. Check out whatHLScouldbe.com for our ideas and more about us.
Billy & Noelle: Both of us have sought to help build a better HLS and improve our fellow students’ experience from the very beginning of our time here. We set out on this mission by coming into Student Government as 1L reps and have both been involved ever since. Throughout this time, we have grown to understand what change HLS needs, and we have learned how this can be brought about. No other ticket has the same level of knowledge or experience that we bring to bear. Our accomplishments thus far, and our 14-page collection of proposed changes for HLS, testify to this.
Sam & Micah: To advocate and make change. This is the first time in history that the yearly cost of attendance is above 6-figures. $102,800. Seeing that, while also getting billed $17.80 for printing was enraging. If someone doesn’t stand up now, then when will we? When its $125,000, $150,000 or $200,000? Each candidate ticket has experience in student government, and everyone at this school is intelligent and high achieving. But unlike the others, we have our eyes set on an issue that affects every single student at this school — the ones writing this article, and the ones reading it.
Record: Question for Faith and Irfan: You are the only ticket comprised of only 1Ls. What advantages do you think that equips you with in comparison to the other candidates?
Faith & Irfan: We would be Co-Presidents as 2Ls, similar to leadership of many incredible organizations like Parody or HALA. We bring energy, and we’re encouraged by the fact that we will be here two years to see ideas through and also transition the next leadership. We can upgrade initiatives throughout our time, e.g., taking a beach day trip the first year to an overnight retreat the next. We can also hold the Admin. to account over multiple years. Having worked on initiatives this year and enjoyed it despite the demands of 1L, we’d love to make HLS fun and inclusive.
Record: Question for Billy and Noelle: You are both Student Government veterans. What challenges and setbacks have you faced in SG, and what did you learn from them?
Billy & Noelle: The biggest obstacle to progress at HLS is our limited time at the school. Three years flies by; coming to understand our school’s issues, determining solutions, and getting buy-in from relevant administrators is hard to fit into this limited time. For LLMs, it is even harder. The way to overcome this is by 1) deliberately recording and publishing our progress for future students; 2) increasing continuity within student government so as to better carry forward progress on key issues; and 3) building and maintaining effective organizational systems, like our committees and website.
Record: Question for Sam and Micah: You have made reducing the cost of attending HLS the main focus of your ticket. What kind of proposals do you suggest for making attendance more affordable and more inclusive?
Sam & Micah: First and foremost – opening up an honest conversation around HLS’ skyrocketing tuition problem. Second, we want to developing more transparency between the administration and the student body on why tuition is increased and how the increases are being invested. As for direct affordability, we want to improve students’ quality of life — if tuition increases by $2,275 yearly, we expect student benefits to increase as well. These benefits should include: free printing and working printers; decreasing the cost of the Hark Cafe; sponsoring affinity group’s independence from BigLaw; have tuition increases directed to mental wellness programs; expanding and simplifying SPIF/LIPP for easier public-interest careers; reducing need-based aid penalties for summer job earnings; and eliminate tuition increases over the rate of inflation.
At the Student Government Forum, the candidates responded to questions on the role of student government, clerkship harassment, and wellbeing at HLS.
Moderator: What do the jobs of Student Government co-presidents entail?
Faith & Irfan: There are a few things, such as events that they plan through HL Central, initiatives they lead, as well as advocacy. We need to have more advocacy, and our platform shows what we will do things differently, such as focusing on prison divestment. The current co-presidents, Daniel and Princess Daisy, set the tone and suggested more clinics to protect minorities, setting the tone for what HLS cares about. That is part of the big duty of the co-presidents to engage with the student body.
Billy & Noelle: The job boils down to speaking for the student body when no one else can. There are problems that affect all of us, and they advocate for what’s best for us. The current co-presidents have stood up to Dean Sells, for example, to ask for more resources. We have met with Dean Manning and expressed a great deal of outrage about the proposed religious liberty clinic. As co-president, Daniel was the one who had to draw the hard line and asked Dean Manning to take action. The co-president is someone who the student body can look to and represent them, speaking up for the students and looking out for them.
Sam & Micah: As a person who is not in student government, I want to push back. I think the most important aspect is for a co-president to act as an arm of the student body. We believe unity among the different affinity groups is crucial, and that’s why we chose to run. Though Student Government has done fantastic things in the past, there is a disconnect with what the student body actually cares about. Acting as an arm of the student body means reaching out and getting a better understanding about common issues, tackling them, and finding what the majority wants. Student input should be at the forefront of what the co-presidents do.
Moderator: Can you speak about potential policy measures for judicial clerkships, since we’ve seen an issue with the application process and reporting harassment?
Faith & Irfan: One thing that has been very prohibitive in being a clerk is what counts as relevant criteria, including how 75% of Black clerks are chosen from the Harvard Law Review, which is a huge time commitment. Other steps need to be in place to prevent that disparity. HLS should look to different selection criteria to hold in high esteem other than being on HLR. Not everyone has the ability to dedicate the time necessary for HLR, including needing to work to take care of their families.
Billy & Noelle: We have pretty serious concerns for our peers and what they might be facing. We need to work with the Office of Career Services to create a database where people can report problems they’ve had with specific judges. People should know exactly what they’re getting into.
Sam & Micah: I think the problem is people don’t have a supportive space to talk about the application process and voice concern for harassment. People need a solid place to go to when they need it.
Billy & Noelle: You need to know who you are working with, and we need to be trying to demystify the whole process. We want to support those who want to do clerkships, and there needs to be more support for them, and they need to have a voice. Additionally, we need more information about the issues international students face in applying to clerkships.
Moderator: Finally, what are some of your initiatives to make HLS a healthier place for the student body, both in terms of mental and physical health?
Billy & Noelle: The first point is that mental health and general wellness are linked. When one suffers, so does the other. When you have both going well, they can support each other. There must be a comprehensive plan to tackle the issue, and we have a three stage plan: 1) There are good resources out there, but there needs to be more, and we must work on lowering wait times for those resources. 2) Increase visibility about when the resources are open and spreading awareness. 3) Decrease the stigma of receiving treatment, which we can speak to dealing with from experience.
Faith & Irfan: I think another important aspect is intersectionality and its impact. One of our initiatives is getting more counselors of color and seeing how that impacts one’s mental health. There is also a lot more to do about transparency for resources and accommodations. We don’t know what the panoply of resources are and we want to work on making that list more accessible. Furthermore, concerning our vision of providing fun, we need to think about it as a comprehensive attack on the culture of the system to promote school-wide activities and collective engagement.
Billy & Noelle: Concerning physical wellbeing, we also have a lot of opinions about Hemenway Hall, including J-term hours and how their website is trash. There is also a lot of dead space out by Jarvis field, and one of the initiatives we’ve talked about is adding more fun equipment there, including equipment for other team sports.
Faith & Irfan: One thing is that I appreciate openness about mental health, but I can’t say I’m proud of it because of the mentality here at HLS that pits students against each other. We need to make sure that everyone is getting help, but to do that, we have to change the type of culture we have and make it about community and emphasize that grades don’t actually matter. The culture here is what either makes people feel at home or if they feel like they are competing.
Sam & Micah: I agree with the other candidates, and if we get elected, we would absolutely absorb their ideas. However, one of the biggest problems is having loans hanging over our heads. Many students are unaware, but if you work a firm job during the summer, the school actually takes away some of your financial aid. This is a topic we should talk about, including how the benefits have not been increasing as the cost of attendance does. I think the conversation about loans and cost of attendance needs to be addressed.