The Pioneer Log sizes up ASLC presidency

It’s midterm time for all of us, including ASLC President Lincoln Boyd

By Caleb Diehl /// Editor-in-Chief

Lewis & Clark students have a volatile relationship with their ASLC president. Last spring, through a recall election, students ousted former Associated Students of Lewis & Clark President Callie Rice (’14). They gathered 100 signatures on a petition against abuses of presidential authority. This would have forced Rice to run again, but she stepped down from her office willingly. Voter apathy did the rest.

 That process could just as easily repeat itself, but this semester, students have not felt so inclined. That’s because the current president, Political Science major Lincoln Boyd (’15), has championed environmental and social justice causes close to the hearts of students. Of course, every presidency has its gaffes. Consider this our midterm examination of the executive branch.

 The Good

Boyd set the tone for our government straight away. He held the first senate meeting in council chamber, around a gleaming silver microphone (so the Pioneer Log could keep senators honest), attended by students in suits. He led a quiet reflection activity fn order for senators to set goals for the semester. He even passed out pamphlets with historical quotes, complete with clean Chicago Style footnotes. In all seriousness, that ceremony is just what we need to keep ASLC from becoming a joke.

 Over the summer, when Associate Vice President for Business and Finance Carl Vance vetoed eight student-designed, student-approved energy projects, Boyd refused to mince words. “While the student-led committee was given the mandate to allocate funding,” he wrote to the student body, “the process was ignored.” He called administrators’ behavior “unacceptable.” That clear conviction of wrongdoing reassured us that in conflicts with the administration, Boyd stands with students.

 More recently, Boyd presented facts on sexual assault to students and urged them to join President Barack Obama’s “It’s on US” campaign. That demonstrates an awareness of how LC contributes to a national problem, and how the institution can correct the problem by becoming part of a national effort. Boyd also frequents Feminist Student Union meetings, and he recently joined their efforts to review LC’s sexual misconduct policy. On top of this, Boyd has offered to meet with the Queer Resource Center and support their push for more gender-neutral bathrooms on campus. Boyd’s cabinet even tackled the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, facilitating an open form that LC students have clamored for since OLCC’s appearance in Fall 2012.

The Bad

Inclusion of three subheads is just our compulsory Western film reference. For presidential cons, see below.  

The Ugly

As any student who received one of Director of Elections Noah Callaghan’s (’15) seven scatterbrained emails can attest, LC elections did not go off as smoothly as elections do in most democratic societies in the developed world. Boyd’s cabinet petitioned friends and acquaintances to fill blank spots on the ballot. The Pioneer Log published an extensive investigation into the bungled elections, but for the sake of