Last year, I had the privilege of serving as Vice President of the Student Government Association (SGA). For three years now, I’ve had a front-row seat to how SGA administrations campaign, govern, and ultimately follow through on the promises they make to the student body. I know what engaged leadership and accountability look like, so I can confidently say that President Nicole Meyers’ ’26 administration falls noticeably short of that standard.
Student government is often dismissed as a training ground for “real politics” or a resume line for the civically ambitious. But at Middlebury, it has historically been far more consequential. Past administrations have demonstrated that campus governance can produce tangible, meaningful change when leaders treat their roles with seriousness and urgency.
Take President Abed Abbas’ ’24 administration. During one of the most politically charged periods in campus history, marked by encampments and free speech protests, his team released a free speech resolution that clarified institutional values and student protections at a moment when many were unsure where the College stood. His administration also worked directly with faculty to lower graduation requirements from 36 to 34 credits — a structural, academic reform that materially improved students’ academic flexibility and well-being.
Or, consider President B Striker’s ’25 tenure, which saw record-high voter turnout in SGA elections and the highest reported levels of student satisfaction. His administration partnered with Dining Services on a series of initiatives, including the launch of Newtella — a healthier, more environmentally sustainable alternative to Nutella — and a new to-go cup system that reduced waste and improved convenience for students on the move. Striker also organized the first annual Staff Appreciation Day to recognize the unseen labor that sustains daily student life, and expanded the Break Bus service to the local Amtrak line to promote equity and affordability.
These examples matter because they set a precedent that campaign promises are meant to be fulfilled, leadership is meant to be visible, and governance is meant to function.
Which brings us to the present administration.
President Meyers campaigned on community building, advocacy, and structural improvements. Yet months into the academic year, students are still waiting for signs of follow-through. The public SGA roster online remains outdated. One vice president is abroad, and the other has graduated, leaving the already quiet executive branch even less accessible to the student body. Visibility matters in governance, so when the most basic public-facing materials aren’t updated, it signals disengagement and disconnection from the student body.
President Meyers’ campaign platform particularly emphasized improving the J-Term experience. Through her “Winter Blues Busters” initiative, she pledged to organize a series of SGA-sponsored indoor and outdoor community-building events designed to combat isolation during one of the coldest and most socially limited periods of the academic year. At the same time, she committed to expanding equitable access to the Snow Bowl by creating a streamlined pathway for students with demonstrated financial need to receive free ski passes, and by advocating for a policy allowing first-year students to transfer their complimentary ski pass to a later year if academic obligations prevented its use.
J-Term passed without any SGA-sponsored community programming, and ski access reform remains unrealized. In a season defined by burnout, winter fatigue and financial barriers to recreation, those absences did not go unnoticed. This inaction feels especially stark given that mental health advocacy was a central pillar of President Meyers’ campaign. Students were promised stronger attention to wellbeing, greater institutional coordination and more visible support. Yet there has been no major public initiative, no renewed push for mental health reform and no visible mobilization of campus resources from the Meyers administration. In a year when our campus mourned the loss of a student, that absence of leadership felt particularly heavy.
Her campaign even proposed small but symbolic gestures to build campus connection, including double-sided dining hall cards that would invite students to sit together, with one side reading, “I’d love it if someone joined me.” It was a clever idea, rooted in the understanding that community is built through everyday interactions. I haven’t personally seen these cards throughout the dining halls, but I agree with the sentiment. I would love it if Nicole joined us.
Middlebury students are thoughtful, politically engaged and deeply invested in the well-being of this community. We show up for each other, our causes and the institution we represent. It’s precisely because of that investment that we look to the student government for visible, responsive leadership. I am not asking for perfection; I am simply asking for presence.
