A group of students, frustrated by what they see as too narrow a focus within student government, are attempting to gain a majority in the legislative body to carry out their agenda.

These students have created Common Platform (CP), a political coalition based on shared stances on several issues. As of press time, the CP is comprised of fifteen students running for Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) Legislative Body (LB).

According to a statement the group issued (featured in the Opinions section), their four-point agenda includes keeping need-blind admissions, establishing institutional responsibility, recruiting and supporting domestic students of color and creating a gender-blind housing option on campus.

“We wanted to build a group with the goal to get into the student government, but with the goal of implementing something,” said Jesse Mortenson ’05, one of the candidates. “These were the four things we could all agree on.”

According to Mortenson, the other 13 CP candidates on the ballot are first-years Talha Fasih Khan, Sonia Hazard, Alex Flores, Hillary Mohaupt and Paul Swartz, sophomores Natalia Espejo, Maggie Kinkead and Peter Kirschmann, junior Renee Lepreau, and seniors Jared Lodge, Daniel Burgess and Yong-Ho Kim.

Colleen Stockmann ’05 has not filed but is running as a write-in candidate with the CP. Richard Graves ’04 has expressed interest in the platform but have not said if they will support it.

MCSG President Michael Barnes ’06 said he thinks the group may be beneficial to student government, especially in terms of the issues they are raising.

“I don’t think I’m going to stand up and start shouting about those things, but I think it’s a great way to start off a dialogue,” Barnes said.

“One thing I don’t want—I don’t want anyone to draw a line and divide the LB before we even get started,” he added. “If we set up a good atmosphere and so long as [LB members] are willing to listen to each other and show respect, it won’t be an issue.”

In addition to the 28 spots on LB, at least five of the six executive board members will be able to vote on resolutions.

With at least 15 students supporting Common Platform and the possibility of more students joining later, the group may have a chance of gaining an overall majority in LB. Barnes said it is unclear whether Common Platform would actually constitute a majority during a vote, since the majority shifts from one meeting to the next based upon the number of eligible voters at a meeting discussed at LB meetings.

“I expect each LB member to be strong-willed and independent,” Barnes said. “I don’t think you’re going to see something hastily decided based on what one bloc is doing.”

Yet with only 35 students having filed as of printing and some upperclassmen spots on the LB with no candidates running at all, the group has a good chance of influencing the body’s direction.

“If a significant number get elected and remain committed to the platform, it would probably mean that the issues outlined in the platform will be given a priority in LB discussions and voting,” MCSG Vice President Cara Haberman ’06 wrote via email.

On the issue of institutional responsibility, Mortenson said that the college has failed by not taking social and environmental considerations more seriously. A Common Platform written statement that is printed in full in the opinion section criticizes the administration’s failure to implement the Talloires Declaration, the “exclusive contract with murderous corporation Coca-Cola, and a veil of secrecy over college investments.”

“That’s why we were so interested in having a critical mass and a bloc of students,” Mortenson said. “With a bloc of students we can change the terms of the debate.”

The Common Platform group is concerned that Macalester is too preoccupied with its prestige and “liberal arts” reputation, as expressed in concern over the college’s U.S. News and World Report rankings, the group said in its statement.

“I think this is an opportunity to say that perhaps the student body—or myself anyway—doesn’t want to be part of the high U.S. News and World Report rankings,” Renee Lepreau ’06 said. “I think we should take a look at the rankings. Are these the standards that we want to accept?”

The group criticizes the school for “drifting towards a plan that would shift admission policy away from 100% need-blind admissions.” Asserting that the college does have the resources to keep its’ need-blind policy, the coalition statement favors increasing “access for working class kids” instead of filling “10% of each new class with wealthy white non-athlete kids.”

The group’s statement says that concrete suggestions on recruiting domestic students of color and creating a gender-blind housing option have been ignored for years.

Mortenson did acknowledge that the 94 domestic students of color in this year’s incoming class represent a significant improvement.

“[But] it’s the first time in years,” he said. “So we need to keep watching that and making sure we follow through.”

Last semester Mortenson said that he and fellow LB members Daniel Burgess ’05 and Andy Haug ’06 often voted together but faced an uphill battle in addressing their issues. They won passage of the Blue-Green amendment by referendum but failed to pass the Wal-Mart boycott.

“Last year we had a lot of students in MCSG who were saying that student government is not a political activity, that politics and student government were two different realms,” Mortenson said. “We felt like nobody went to the meetings with an agenda.”

Lepreau agreed that last year’s LB was not political. “I think they see the allocation of funds as their primary goal,” she said.

If successful in the elections, the group plans to focus primarily on campus issues, Haug said. Haug, a two-year veteran of LB, decided not to run but said that he will support and meet with Common Platform members.

“There was some sentiment among [this year’s] Executive Board against our issues last year,” Haug said. “We don’t want to just roll over and give up. We want to make sure we have some presence in student government.”

“This was an effort to expand the base and get more people on board,” Haug added. “We wanted this to be mainstream. We want to get all Macalester students on board. We don’t want to be just three students pushing all this stuff.”

The members of Common Platform will campaign as a group, but each candidate must run and be elected individually. If they decide to continue their coalition once elected, the members plan to meet regularly outside of LB to discuss and augment their platform.

MCSG will hold elections for the LB on Tuesday, Sept. 28 in the Campus Center basement.