Next Tuesday, February 11th, is primary election day for the Notre Dame student body government. This year we are presented with a plethora of candidates whose campaigns differ wildly from one another. One candidate, whose policies promise to break up the homogenous nature of ND, catches the eyes of most progressive students. That candidate is Noble Patidar, a junior, who is running alongside freshman Connor Patrick as his VP.
I discussed with Noble the policies in his platform earlier this week. We talked about topics ranging from his plans to continue and change policies from former student body president Elizabeth Boyle’s platform, to his strategy to encourage sustainability and promote a more diverse and inclusive atmosphere on campus. What follows are the focal points of Noble’s platform and more information about Noble and Connor.
Q. You are competing for the the student council president seat which is currently occupied by Elizabeth Boyle. What aspects of her platform would you continue if you are elected?
A. Elizabeth Boyle serves as a remarkable student body president in what she’s accomplished just within a year. She and Patrick McGuire are role models to many of us. I would continue their efforts for many things, from gender relations and diversity and inclusion, to sustainability and university policy all around. We are very similar in how we approach government: a way to connect students to a central body that is inclusive to all regardless of background.
Q. What aspects would you change?
A. Where I feel I am different is first and foremost, I live and breathe the diversity factor everyday. I know what it feels like to be a multicultural club wishing to advertise its event or in a hall government where inclusion is not the status-quo. I bring a cultural and religious element into the upper levels of student government that is not there. Policy-wise, our main changes lay in our notion of campus presence. I have yet to see the student body president and vice president or any department director at my hall government or in my dorm generally speaking (and this is general to presidents and vice presidents of the past—Elizabeth and Pat actually did a good job at attending general cultural events including Asian Allure which I performed at). Connor and myself wish to tie the hall governments to university government (the main body of student gov). Through monthly newsletters and mini-town halls at hall govs (once a semester) and, of course, attending a wide-range of student group events, we would instill a campus presence for student government that isn’t there right now. Think about it, the average ND student doesn’t know what student government does and even the ones in gov don’t know what other branches within gov do. That’s the main difference.
Q. What would you say the focus of your platform is and what policies do you plan to implement?
A. Our platform is completely different from those of other candidates, including the previous administration. We stress feasibility and actionability, as well as the importance of our policy initiatives. What I mean by that is every year candidates draw up a lengthy platform in which they (the candidates) overextend themselves on promises they can’t keep. The policies are just ideas and they have little direction or guidance as to how they would be approached, implemented, and solved. We do. Every idea on our platform has a step-by-step approach on how to get each idea done. We did the digging. We know that it’s practical and can happen within a one-year time frame (or at least set up the base for short-term solutions) because after all, we are only elected for one-year terms. Here’s a little summary of what we plan to do.
Campus Presence: Monthly newsletter, town halls at each dorm, increase club funding, bring light to issues that other organizations are better equipped at solving (we know the bounds of what student gov can and cannot do).
Student Well-being: Resource awareness through requiring professors to put a list of essential resources for mental health, disability services, and sexual assault at the end of every syllabus; implement Callisto, a sexual assault program that allows the filing of joint-cases so victims do not have to fight in solitude; raising awareness of parietals amnesty (no one—especially anyone who feels threatened, sexually assualted, or harrased should be put at violation of parietals because he/she leaves the dorm past parietals); spread awareness of Title IX resources (e.g. Title IX office exists!); mandatory diversity training and GreeNDot training for all welcome weekend ambassadors.
Sustainability: Reusable cups and tumblers will allow students to get discounts at Starbucks, Waddicks, ABP, etc. (their discounts are incredible!); recycling awareness (e.g. putting a poster that labels what is recyclable and what is not for a Starbucks cup).
Inclusion: Mandatory diversity training for RA’s, welcome weekend staff, and all student government positions enumerated by the Constitution; promote healthy civil discourse by partnering with BridgeND, College Dems, College Reps, etc. (Converge is an event which serves as a healthy model); partering with AccessABLE and Sara Bea center to increase awareness of accessibility challenges and resources; financial inclusion; work to include gender and sexual orientation in ND’s non-discrimination clause; free sanitary products in all womens’ dorms and public restrooms on campus; religious inclusion through a beginning-of-the-year religious club fair separate from the general one and ride-sharing to the local mosque, Hindu Temple, Sinai worship ground, etc.; campus cultural celebrations for all multicultural student groups and class councils; inclusion of international students and transfer students-need more survey data on their needs and wants; compromising with ND Administration on dorm-access swipe policy and senior exclusion policy
Q. What distinguishes you from other candidates?
A. I am Indian, Hindu, and first-generation, involved in Student Government (3 years and counting), South Asian Student Association, and a coordinator for Reilly Spring Visit (a minority weekend visit that brings some of the brightest minority students in the application pool to Notre Dame). Connor is a first-year student that brings a distinct background of Catholicism, a push for multicultural student groups (e.g. Brazilian Club, Polish Club, teaches at St. Adalberts, South Bend). We are a dynamic duo that brings a combined whole new perspective to how we approach the role of student body president and vice president. We extend to student groups and friend groups across all reaches of campus. In fact, when we were petitioning and while we’re campaigning right now, we go door-to-door to have quality conversations with every student on campus. We put in the hours to build feasible policies and have quality conversations with students.
Q. Just over a year ago, Notre Dame reported 723 safety-related incidents occurring on campus involving students, which is higher than the national average. Do you have plans to increase campus safety?
A. Callisto is a sexual assault program in which victims can file joint-cases with other victims so that they don’t have to fight in solitude. Even before the filing of a case, victims can keep a journal of sexual-assault related entries that will help document a case even before the filing of the case. University of Southern California is just one school of a handful that have this program; there is little to no excuse why we can’t implement it.
A blue light system (or rather the lack thereof) is something ND has failed to address time and time again. We did some digging and found out that ND used to have blue lights but took them out due to maintenance costs and the lack of usage. If cost-benefit analysis is the issue, there are other systems that could be implemented. For example, we could have lamppost buttons that would not be as costly. Also, even if not used, it serves as a prevention mechanism!
Lastly, access to university resources like the UCC (counseling), St. Liam’s, and McWell Center are things that students don’t know about or feel a stigma towards not going to. Raising awareness of these resources and other general offices like the Gender Relations Center, Title IX office, and Sara Bea Center (accessibility) will help prevent these issues.
Q. Based on reviews from Unigo.com, when asked what the worst part of Notre Dame is, students most often reply “the lack of diversity.” How do you plan to promote diversity and inclusivity on campus?
A. Diversity and inclusion is most effective when implemented organically. Encouraging clubs to host events, encouraging dorms to celebrate diverse cultures, and hosting university-wide celebrations through music, art, and cuisine are the best ways to promote [Diversity and Inclusion].
Some practical ways to do this include incentivizing dorms to promote mandatory diversity training for rockne points towards their Hall of the Year score and making it mandatory for all welcome weekend staff, RA’s and Hall staff, and student gov enumerated positions to go through a separate diversity training (distinct from GreeNDot). Lastly, I met with the director of the dining halls who was receptive to student government feedback on meal plans and including diverse cuisines. He has already implemented Indian food and was even open to the idea of more Korean food and Halal cuisine. That’s an organic and effective start at doing this.
Lastly, I myself represent a diverse and inclusive background so it starts at the top as well as the grassroots movement at the bottom.
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Make sure to attend the student body debate in Duncan Student Center on Monday, February 10th at 9 P.M. to hear from Noble and Connor, alongside their fellow candidates!
Don’t forget to follow @Pat.Pat.2020 on Instagram for more from the Patidar-Patrick campaign.
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