Sam Tracy
SSDP Board Application
The Basics
School: University of Connecticut
Email: sam.j.tracy@gmail.com
Major(s) / Minor(s) / Areas of study: Double major in Political Science and Sociology
Current year in school: Junior
Expected graduation year: May 2013
What are your tentative plans after college?: I would like to work as a lobbyist for a cause I believe in, including drug policy reform, environmental laws, or election reform.
Leadership Experience
Describe your advocacy skills and experience. Include work outside of SSDP.
I have worked extensively on drug policy, as well as other issues, mainly at the state level. This past Spring, I interned in the Connecticut State Legislature, where I became very familiar with the legislative process and how to lobby effectively. I organized many groups, including students, veterans, and policy advocates to submit public testimony on a variety of issues such as marijuana decriminalization and tax incentives for alternative fuel vehicles. Through rallies, media attention, public testimony, and one-on-one meetings with top officials, we were able to pass marijuana decriminalization, medical amnesty, and many non-drug policy reforms in a single legislative session. I also have a lot of experience in electoral politics, having worked on the campaign of now-Governor Dan Malloy and Jason Ortiz’s campaign for state representative. My main passion is student government – at UConn, I was a Senator in our student government while I was president of our UConn chapter, and I used that position to have our student government endorse marijuana decriminalization. Then, I ran a successful campaign for Student Body President on a platform that included drug policy reform, which helped stimulate debate and made the issue more mainstream than ever.
How do you plan on balancing a busy schedule as a student, an SSDP activist, and a board member?
I already manage a rather heavy schedule, between being a student, Student Body President, and a Resident Assistant. But I have been able to keep up with all that I have going on by taking the minimum courseload to remain a full-time student, which I can thankfully continue for the next two years and still graduate on time. I am very skilled at time management and have been able to balance all of these commitments this year, and if elected to the SSDP Board of Directors, I will drop some of my less-important things this year and will not be an RA for my senior year. I enjoy learning and am extremely passionate about drug policy reform, and would be more than willing to reduce my time on Facebook, YouTube and playing video games in order to commit myself more fully to ending the War on Drugs.
SSDP Chapter Experience
What formal positions have you held in your SSDP chapter? When?
I served as President of UConn’s SSDP chapter from April 2010 to April 2011.
Describe your leadership style, particularly within your chapter.
My leadership style is very results-oriented, and I focused heavily on legislative efforts on the state level and winning control of our student government. I like to be as inclusive as possible, and would typically start meetings by giving the general membership a debriefing of new developments since the last meeting, and answering any questions people had about something they saw in the news or heard about a bill we were working on. I delegated tasks in order to get less-experienced members to take on responsibility. Training younger, and newer, members to become leaders in their own right was a main goal of mine, and a necessity for our successful takeover of the student government because we needed a large slate of candidates to run for office.
Describe one project that you led or are leading. What was/is your role? What has this project accomplished?
The main project that I have led, and am currently still leading, is UConn SSDP’s takeover of our student government. It started in Spring 2010, when I ran the successful campaigns of myself and about 15 other SSDPers for Senate positions, and then used our power to endorse Connecticut’s marijuana decriminalization bill, which got the attention of the media as well as legislators. Later, in the Spring 2011 elections, I and my fellow SSDPer Lindsay Chiappa ran for President and Vice President of the Student Body. Our opposition tried to disqualify us twice, yet we still prevailed, and this experience taught me the persistence and determination necessary to follow a project through to completion, no matter how difficult it may get. We now control over $1.5 million in student fees and serve as the official voices of the student body. Running the student government has allowed us to put drug policy at the top of lawmakers’ agendas, by attending a meeting with one of President Obama’s advisors, and getting one-on-one meetings with Connecticut’s Governor. On campus, this has allowed us to push hard for equalizing marijuana and alcohol penalties in the dorms, assure that our SSDP chapter receives funding for events and travel, and keep drug policy on the minds of administrators and the front pages of our student newspaper.
What fundraising or revenue building experience have you had in the past?
My main experience with fundraising has been in relation to using the school’s student government to fund events and trips for SSDP. This has included getting full funding for 8 students to attend the SSDP and DPA conferences, obtaining over $6,000 to host the 2010 Northeast Regional Conference at UConn, and getting hefty honorariums for like-minded speakers. By taking over our student government, we gained control of over $1.5 million per year in student fees, which are used for a variety of purposes that now include lobbying for drug policy reforms on the campus, state, and national level. I was part of the Jason Ortiz for State Representative campaign, where we raised over $9,000 for an independent candidate entirely from donations ranging from $5 to the state limit of $250, using a variety of methods including going door to door, online money bombs, and dinner-style fundraisers. I have also had some fundraising experience with EcoHouse, an environmental living community at UConn, where we have worked with our office of Community Outreach to work at UConn events in exchange for hundreds of dollars of funding for our own initiatives.
The Board
Why do you want to serve on the SSDP board?
I want to serve on the Board of Directors because I want to help SSDP chapters take over their student governments and use them to make change. Doing so would solve SSDP chapters’ two biggest problems: funding and influence. Controlling student governments would put SSDP chapters in an unprecedented position to make progress on the campus, state, and federal level.
When it comes to drug policy, America is at a pivotal point in history – for the first time ever, a national Gallup poll shows that 50% of Americans are now in favor of legalizing marijuana. SSDP needs to take advantage of this moment, and could certainly be getting more media attention than it has in the past. I have worked in the media and know how reporters operate, and want to use this knowledge to make sure that SSDP gets more big media hits.
What do you believe are the board's most important functions?
In my opinion, the Board’s most important functions are steering the organization and fundraising. Setting SSDP on the path to progress is the main function of the Board, and includes things such as setting the tone of the organization and working with the staff to make media appearances, lobby for change, and assist chapters. But the reality of the situation is that none of this can be done without money, so the Board must work hard to fundraise for SSDP by applying for grants, seeking contributors big and small, and of course, demonstrating the effectiveness of the organization by making real change.
What are your goals for your board tenure (be as specific as possible)?
A main goal of mine would be to encourage and assist chapters to take over their student governments. SSDP chapters are often lacking two major things: funding and influence. Controlling the school’s student government can give an SSDP chapter a large amount of financial resources in order to pull of bigger events and better regional conferences. Also, being the official voice of the student body immediately legitimizes drug policy reform and can push the issue to the top of the agenda for the school administration and the state government. I would work with other SSDP members with experience in student government to create an SSDP Student Government Takeover Manual.
SSDPers on the campus level are also in need of examples of sensible policies. Therefore, I would work with others to create a directory of schools’ drug policies, which could then be used to help students push their own schools to match the most sensible policies out there.
If elected to the board, would you retain a leading role and/or formal position with your chapter?
I currently do not hold a formal position in my chapter, and do not plan on seeking one, as UConn SSDP prefers to have new officers every year in order to push new members to take on responsibilities and become leaders. However, I would continue to serve as a mentor and resource to the group’s leadership and members.
