With the publication of this guest editorial comes the creation of an apolitical organization devoted to bringing high-quality guest speakers to campus and integrating their ideas with those of students and faculty members. After three months of planning and enlisting the support of prominent alumni, professors, and administrators, the Yale College Student Union will commence its activities.
Our product will speak for itself. The guest speakers we sponsor will be widely recognized and respected. We will not settle for second-rate speakers. In our efforts to bring the most popular guests to campus, our officers will use marketing surveys and online request forms to assess the demand for specific speakers. The Yale Union exists to serve the University and its events will all be free and open to students and faculty members.
We believe the Yale Union will be a valuable complement to the extracurricular community. Other organizations sometimes bring guests to campus, and we welcome this as a service to the Yale community. Our goal is not to compete with groups such as the Yale Political Union and Yale Business and Economic Forum; in the end, the student body will be better served by the increased potential for hearing preeminent guest speakers. Any competition that does occur will merely improve the quality of all organizations involved, because groups -- including ours -- may have to change themselves for the better if they with to remain viable and relevant.
There will be no financial hurdle preventing students from attending a Yale Union meeting. We value the opportunity to allow the participation of all students in Yale Union events. In order to encourage the expression of a diversity of opinion, there are no admission fees or annual dues. Students should be able to avail themselves of intelligent conversation without having to empty their bank accounts. Many segments of the University have already expressed their desire to see this organization succeed. Alumni who care deeply about the University's success and good name have enthusiastically responded to the principles upon which this organization is being founded. As the marketplace of ideas works best in an environment of respect and decorum, the Yale Union will ensure that its guests are appropriately treated with the dignity that befits a visitor to Yale.
The faculty members we have contacted thus far have indicated their excitement to see the Yale Union become a permanent fixture of the Yale experience. The staying power of the Yale Union will derive from its sound organizational structure, detailed strategy for success, and integration with the University. Twenty years after graduation, we fully expect to return to the University and see the Yale Union thriving and increasing Yale's presence upon the national stage.
Marc Lindemann is a senior in Saybrook College. Matthew Rothman is a sophomore in Branford College.