Because of her thorough roster of concrete ideas and her experience on the YCC, we endorse Debby Abramov ’14.

Abramov has served on several committees on the YCC this year, and that sort of institutional knowledge will allow her to step easily into the vice president’s role. She knows that a large part of the vice presidency is to manage the heads of the council’s committees, and her experience as a committee chair this year will help her form easy relationships.

Although her competitor, Daryl Hok ’14, does not have that depth of experience, his outside perspective comes with a number of fresh ideas. Hok has not served on the YCC, but he is a member of the Sophomore Class Council. SoCo has instituted weekly dinners, and Hok’s suggestion that the YCC hold a similar sort of office hours to keep representatives in touch with constituents is a promising idea.

But Abramov surpasses Hok in the depth of her policies. She is not merely the insider who knows how the council works; she has the momentum and the ideas to drive the council forward and to break through what is often a slow pace.

Her platform focuses on expanding this year’s successes. This year’s council started a mental health program for freshmen; Abramov would expand it to include slumping sophomores. She would expand the YCC website to include a marketplace. She understands that the YCC needs a tech-savvy person to help launch many of its initiatives and to make its work more accessible to the student body.

Abramov also sees a role for the YCC in facilitating a broader campus discussion. She mentioned a 2001 town hall meeting with University President Richard Levin as an example of all-encompassing conversations that open communication between students and the administration.

On several recent occasions, administrative action has been unexplained and seemingly out of touch with student opinion — think of the ban on fall rush for freshmen, the new tailgate policies or the mandated Sex Week reform. Those are conversations the YCC should be a part of — and that doesn’t just mean talking to administrators behind closed doors. The student body should know what the council is doing, and the council should provide a forum for students to talk to each other about contentious issues. Abramov at least begins to sense the need for the YCC to fill that hole in campus discourse, and we hope she will be able to lead that effort.

Abramov’s experience on the YCC is a boon, but she may need at times to take a look at the YCC with the kind of outsider’s perspective Hok might have to ensure that she does not simply get stuck in the council’s slow rhythms. But Abramov’s record makes us confident that she will hit the ground running, and we expect her to use her knowledge of the council’s internal workings to push it out of stagnation.