College/Year: Silliman ’04
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Major: History
Scott Simpson says he wants action.
If elected treasurer of the Yale College Council, he said, “I’m going to get in there, and we’re going to make some progress.”
Citing the YCC’s recent marathon debate that ended its support of a card-count neutrality agreement regarding graduate student attempts to unionize, Simpson criticized what he called “ideological resolutions” by the YCC.
“They’re largely meaningless, they’re ineffective, and they’re simply not in the domain [of the YCC],” he said.
Simpson, who is not currently a member of the YCC, said he thinks YCC has been “paralyzed by its own insiders.”
“Certain YCC members are in the pay of certain special interest groups,” he said.
Simpson, who also referred to his “strong personality,” distanced himself from “that insiders’ crowd” of which he said other candidates for YCC offices are members.
“My advantage is, I’m not joining YCC to find a group of friends,” he said, asserting that his commitment is first and foremost to student life.
Simpson said he supports plans put forward by other candidates, such as late-night hours in dining halls and, especially, increased funding for student groups. He also said he wants to see procedural changes in the YCC, such as better publicity for meetings and “public airing of complaints” against representatives. He said he thinks the latter would further openness in the dialogue between the YCC and the student body. But he said he thinks this proposal would meet some resistance.
–Caroline Massad