Dear Fellow Students,

My name is Jack Carew and I am running to be the co-Chair of your Community Council.

Community Council is a body of students, faculty, and staff who discuss issues and pass recommendations to the administration with solutions to those issues. The student co-Chair of the council works with the faculty co-Chair to engender a close relationship between the council and the administration.

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I am running to be your Community Council co-Chair for a variety of reasons - most importantly, to voice others’ concerns. I love talking with people, and my main priority is to allow the widest possible range of voices to be heard. I would like to collaborate with members and non-members of Community Council to allow any and all voices to be heard.

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This election coincides with a tumultuous time at Middlebury, obviously. Only a least-woke individual would assert that Middlebury does not have its problems. That is a fact. And while I am saddened by the divisions that exist on campus, solutions to these problems do exist. After all, the first step in making something better is identifying that it is a problem in the first place.

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Those of you who do know me - as a wannabe drag queen, the kid who delivers your GrilleMe, or the one who writes poetry during biology lectures - may also know that I have never participated in student government before. This is true; I have never run a campaign—bar my bid for fourth grade class representative—nor am I involved with the political science department here. And while I do receive CNN push notifications on my phone, I am certainly not the most ‘political’ candidate. I embrace this aspect of my identity. I am uniquely able to provide an outsider’s unbiased perspective on student government at Middlebury, and if I am lucky enough to be gain your support, I will bring no preconceived notions to Community Council.

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Finally, I would like to return to my identity. I am (candidly) a white, gay, cisgendered male running for elected office, in a time when three out of four of these identifiers estrange me from many Middlebury students. I ask you to look beyond politics or previous affiliations in this election, and see me as an individual who cares for people and the issues that affect them, not just those that affect himself.

Graciously,

Jack Carew