Lairy Mary’s outraged letter to Trev’s JCR

TO: Trevelyan College JCR, Trevelyan College JCR Chair – Ben Lambert, Trevelyan College JCR President – Nick Cooper

Please find the JCR’s letter of disqualification to Presidential Candidate Jeremiah Riad here.

A perfect picture of Trevs. Not so perfect after all?

As an active member of the Trevelyan College community, I am shocked and appalled by the recent disqualification of my chosen candidate for JCR President, Jeremiah Riad. It is frankly outrageous that the JCR has chosen to infringe on our democratic right to representation in such an ostentatious manner.

Many key positions in our college are held by an elite oligarchical cadre of students, eager to exercise their limited power in the control of the silent, and often un-voting, majority. The majority of elected officials in the Trevelyan College JCR ran unopposed last year, including our President and Vice President. President Nick Cooper has my utmost respect as an individual and as our President, but I can’t, in good conscience, say he represents myself, or the bulk of members of the Trevelyan College JCR. This isn’t President Cooper’s fault – we were not offered an option in our election. As long as elected officials run unopposed, we are not living in a democracy, and as long as candidates from outside of the JCR establishment are banished from the political process because they attempt to politically motivate and involve the average un-voting Trevelyanite, we are living under a totalitarian regime.

The offending campaign photo which caused Jeremiah Riad (pictured) to be ousted from the Presidential race.

I didn’t listen to President Cooper’s speech at formal last year, and I was not canvassed by the candidate. I’m sure that the majority of members of our college had a similar experience. The formal speeches are exclusive by nature; the majority of students will not attend the formal they are given at. In addition, the JCR are in charge of determining who attends formals; the JCR determine who is allowed to form substantive opinions about the direction our college should go in. The effect of this is that the political process remains exclusive and political power is concentrated in the hands of the few. Canvassing of livers out is impractical and never attempted. The highly controlled canvassing process excludes the majority of second and third years, while privileging candidates who live in college (as the Exec do) and have easier access to canvassing livers in.

JCR Chairman ‘Mao’ Ben Lambert. Image: Trevelyan JCR

Fortunately, there is a simple solution to this. Social media propelled Barack Obama to re-election, social media allowed for coordinated uprisings against dictators in the Arab Spring. Social media is the great equalizer in the political process. As long as you have access to the internet, you are capable of holding a well informed political opinion, participating in your democracy through grassroots initiatives, and advocating for your vision of the future to the entire community. The power of social media to enact revolutionary political change is so well understood that it’s practically illegal in the People’s Republic of China. As I found out today, it is also illegal in Trevelyan College.

Suzanne Sandwiches was not aware of this dictatorial anti-democratic clause in our constitution when she created a social media campaign for Mr. Riad. She was not running for public office, so she was not informed by the JCR of the rules, and had she been, she would not have interpreted them as applying to her. Miss Sandwiches wished to make her endorsed candidate’s views more widely known, and to change Trevelyan College for the better. She’s an idealist and a political pioneer in our stale and contrived simulacrum of democracy.

Ms. Sandwiches – Rabble Rouser? Freedom Fighter?

As to the identity of my friend Suzie, I don’t believe it has any bearing on this debate. Jeremiah Riad welcomed her support, but disclaimed responsibility for her actions, and I believe our constitution required no more of him. Suzie is part of a long tradition of dissenting voices who hid their true names in order to affect change. Suzie lived in fear of being silenced and reprimanded by the JCR for attempting to democratically reapportion a part of their power. Like the oligarchs they are, they crushed dissension and attempted to discredit her democratic impulses. She spoke for us all in wanting a chance to choose change. That is why today I say, we are all Suzanne Sandwiches.

In addition, as a student of English Literature, I am appalled by the repeated incorrect usage of quotation marks on the notice of disqualification.

Yours,

Mary Offutt-Reagin.