Editorial: The Pitt News endorses Natalie Dall for Student Government Board President

For the first time in too long, endorsing a candidate for Student Government Board president presented a true debate.

Every year, The Pitt News editors sit down with the presidential candidates before the SGB election and take a group vote to recommend a candidate. Last year, we chose Wasi Mohamed without question — and ultimately, without success. In 2013, when only one candidate sought the top spot, we decried the complete lack of competition.

This year, there was room — and candidates — for debate. Ultimately, though, Natalie Dall is the strongest choice for SGB President.

Matt Sykes, Dall’s only competition in this year’s election, should be proud of everything that he has achieved as a member of the Board. Largely because of his extensive work with the Board’s mental health task force, Skyes said the Student Health Center will hire six new counselors this summer. Sykes’ role in creating Mental Health Awareness Week in October demonstrated his passion and commitment to helping Pitt students in need.

But two of an SGB President’s most valuable assets are vision and breadth. While Sykes places a great deal of emphasis on his mental health platform, his campaign has lacked specific plans for tackling other issues facing Pitt students. It is simply unclear what he would provide as president that he can’t already do with his position on the task force.

Sykes argues well for the importance of his ideas, but the value of Dall’s proposals are clear enough to stand on their own. She presents a platform that confronts issues affecting students at all levels of the Pitt community, and through her involvement in Residence Life, she also knows how to survey and connect with everyday students — not just campus leaders.

Dall wants to reform first-year advising systems to more appropriately match students with their first guides to college and create an OMET equivalent that would allow students to review the quality of advising they receive.

Dall’s plan to make sexual assault assistance available through a cohesive, step-by-step guide of how to report and what to expect — which she would host on the My Pitt Portal — is informed by personal experience and responds to one of campus’s largest, murkiest issues. Her engagement with sexual assualt issues arose from watching a close friend give up on filing a claim after six months, and as a Board member, Dall has been working with SHARE and SECCS to address sexual assault.

Although Sykes has served on SGB longer, Dall’s diverse background sets her apart.

As a three-semester president of the Resident Student Association, Dall has demonstrated an ability to focus on the most relevant information in front of her and cultivated a knack for forming relationships. Dall has attended University Senate and Board of Trustees meetings, giving her an even deeper awareness of how our school functions.

Dall describes herself as “an analytical thinker,” a trait learned from spending the past two summers at Pitt, conducting published research. Her demonstrated mental skills make her an excellent candidate for reviewing tricky board proposals, noticing possible problems and eliminating bias.

“It helps me think things through before making decisions and consider all the consequences of my actions,” Dall said.

As SGB President, both of these attributes would serve her well. Dall’s insight from working to improve the living conditions of Pitt students would be an invaluable asset on the Board, and she shows an unmatched commitment to the student voices she would represent.

“When I look at Pitt, I am really proud of how we are progressive, and we are talking about things that a lot of other schools don’t,” Dall said. “One of the things that I love about this University is that we have a very passionate student body that is engaged about a lot of different things.”

Unfortunately, the campus passion Dall cherishes has not translated into student participation in SGB. Whichever candidate wins the election must address the apathy that resulted in only two candidates running to be the only representative students choose. While Dall’s plan to reach out to RAs with potentially interested students is more promising than Syke’s, it must be a priority for all of the new Board members.

Hopefully next year’s endorsement will be an harder decision.