PRESIDENT, JONNY DORSEY '09: Co-founder and First Executive Director of FACE AIDS, member of the development committee of Stanford's Board of Trustees, founder of OnBoard, which places undergraduates on the board of non-profits, member of the Public Service Student Advisory Board, member of the Sigma Nu fraternity.

VICE PRESIDENT, FAGAN HARRIS '09: Branner RA, president of Stanford Students for Relief, co-director of community outreach for Students Taking on Poverty, assistant with Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality and the Office of the Special Assistant for Diversity Outreach to the VPUE.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): You both have done some very impressive things with public service. Why the decision to pursue an ASSU office more known for distributing bike lights and planning parties?

Jonny Dorsey (JD): Historically the ASSU has done very important things. When I got in to Stanford, I was told the story of Steve Westly, ASSU Executive in ‘78, who used his platform to divest from South Africa because of apartheid . . . But don’t get me wrong — the bike lights are important, the shuttle service is great. These things aren’t mutually exclusive. We also think the ASSU can play a bigger role. A lot of my friends graduated in ‘07, and were funneled into consulting and I-Banking, because of the CDC. That made me very upset. I love the Haas center, but they have 6 post-grad fellowships . . . If Stanford had a mission statement — it would be to create leaders for a better good.

TSD: Is your campaign defined by public service?

JD: No. We want to engage the broader student body. That requires working on the bigger issues that get them engaged. More important is working with students, and working with the broader administration and the trustees. It’s creating a structure making sure that the student voice is powerful.

TSD: A lot of the executive slates have similar platforms. What sets your platform apart?

FH: It’s also important to make the distinction between process and content. There are similarities with content. But with process, what we are proposing is a complete departure from the way the ASSU runs. Right now we have 20 percent really engaged in the ASSU. That leaves 80 percent of the students who don’t care.

TSD: How are you going to mobilize that 80 percent?

JD: We have 145 people working on the campaign so far. That’s not something we are going to stop. We are going to keep them engaged, and expand them. We are working to inspire people to care.

TSD: Other slates, particularly Gobaud-Goldgof, have been very specific in detailing their platforms. Why have you chosen to be more vague?

JD: A lot of this has to do with our philosophy of involving a lot of people. We think the best way is doing a big strategic planning process — getting everyone in the room who cares. We will never have better ideas for pushing forward sustainability than the Students for Sustainable Stanford.

FH: It comes back to process vs. content. Others have great content, but what sets us apart is great process. Process really makes the difference.

TSD: Neither of you have student government backgrounds. How will this affect your campaign, and if elected, your tenure as executives?

JD: We talked to [ASSU President] Hershey about it. He said you’d have a learning curve first quarter, and then it would be alright. It’s on us to prove we can do a good job. You build out a cabinet.

FH: We need some great ASSU people. We sat down with Andy Lomeli ‘09. We are going to have that insider knowledge. 12 of 15 senators are going to be new. There is a great moment right now to bring new perspective to the ASSU.

TSD: The ASSU is famous for gridlock and division. How will you overcome that?

JD: This year, the executive and undergraduate senate didn’t work together very much. Even if it’s hard, and unpleasant, we are going to work very hard to make sure we are all working together. We are also going work with the administration and the trustees.

FH: There’s no accountability. There’s a lot of division, but that’s superficial. That can be done away with; it’s all about the process. We bring an average student perspective. This stuff is not revolutionary.