MacGregor-Dennis Announces Candidacy for ASSU Executive

[](http://stanfordreview.org/article/macgregor-dennis-announces-candidacy-for-assu-senate/stewart-bio/)

Drumroll, please! On Thursday afternoon, Stewart MacGregor-Dennis announced his candidacy for the ASSU executive, along with running mate Druthi Ghanta ’14. With several slates already declared, the incumbent vice president of the ASSU is a tad late to the party, but intentionally so. Before the announcement, I sat down with Stewart for a brief conversation about his new campaign.

First of all, why Druthi Ghanta? Ghanta is a sophomore, who has served on the ASSU class cabinet, but not on the senate itself. However, MacGregor-Dennis believes that she brings not only a compatibility that he desired, but a fresh new perspective, especially in areas that he admits he is not the most knowledgeable. Ghanta has extensive experience in public service, and as MacGregor-Dennis claimed, “when the ASSU has been at its strongest, there has been a strong service component.”

And that brings us to the biggest question- what exactly will be the focus points for this new slate? MacGregor-Dennis is confident that one of the strongest elements of the team is that his incumbency lends itself to already-developed relationships with the university, which  will allow them to hit the road running.

But in terms of what they hope to accomplish, it seems at least for now that the ASSU vice president has actually matured over the last year. MacGregor-Dennis believes that the ASSU executive’s strongest suit is to be able to represent the student body and advocate for students’ needs in dialogue with the university, not to try and accomplish things that can already be done by student organizations, such as organizing events.

MacGregor-Dennis is also concerned more about specific needs of students and communities within Stanford. Resolving issues such as hard liquor problems, or international students’ complaints regarding housing during winter break, are higher on his agenda this time around.

For now, the slate is exploring more opportunities and needs that it can address. MacGregor-Dennis attributes the delay in his campaign announcement to this exploration. The slate is set to release their official campaign name later this quarter, and their full platform on the first day of Spring.

“I am passionate about impact,” stated MacGregor-Dennis, not a skewed vision. He is confident that the new slate, with Ghanta’s expertise, will add diversity to the ASSU’s focus, instead of advocating for initiatives that only benefit a handful of students and communities.