MEINIG FAMILY CORNELL NATIONAL SCHOLARS
EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP AWARD
David Katz-Doft
Arts & Sciences '05
Any perspective student touring Cornell eventually comes to a building not only geographically centered on campus, but centered in the spirit of Cornellians new and old. Willard Straight Hall serves as a lighter point of a tour, with tour guides retelling tales of the spirit of one of the founders of Dragon Day and the originators of the fun loving spirit of Cornell students. When built as a memorial to the fallen groom, "The Straight" was commissioned as a place where students could escape the rigors of Cornell, a place devoid of academics, a place where Willard Straight’s zest for the lighter side of life could continue. Before entering Cornell, I remember my mother retelling stories of her days on campus and the meaning of the Straight in her day: the center point of a takeover that would change campus. Upon my interactions with other alumni, the stories have only become more numerous; stories of love, friendship, good times and growing. In my sophomore year I became involved with the Willard Straight Hall Program Board (WSHPB) as director of music and coffeehouses and later became administratively active as a member of the Willard Straight Hall Administrative Board. While helping to organize and program events with a minimal board, I began to think about the state of the building.
I became saddened by change in spirit. The Straight was no longer a hub of activity and student life. It was no longer a place students could look to release their stress and relax. Rather, in many students’ views, it is viewed as a old arcane building, wonderful to sleep in and wonderful to eat in, but otherwise useless. I felt that as another member in the long history of Cornell tradition, something needed to be done to change this. The Straight needed to again be a building that meant something if it was taken over. Over the past years I have been working to try and merge the Willard Straight Administrative Board and the WSHPB. In my eyes, the only way to bring The Straight back to its place was to have a unified front of both organizations, combining their purposes and responsibilities to work as a unit to promote the building. The synthesis of both boards would serve many functions: it would allow the total membership of the group to grow, making programming and promoting easier; it would remove the conflict and confusion that often exists between groups and administrative policy; it would also allow for optimal use of programming space so the straight could be best utilized for all members of the Cornell community.
I have worked in the past few weeks on creating the new structure of this organization, and writing the by-laws and operating procedures that will set the foundation for the future to make this resurgence in spirit possible. I have acted as a intermediary between both groups trying to work the needs of each into the final goal. I have spent countless hours working out all the details so the building can expand. I have created a system where administrative and programming needs are unified under one executive director, working together to set policy and promote the group, Student Union Board (S.U.B.). This system has a function to allocate a percentage of our budget to a fund to entice groups to use The Straight in their late night programs, in order to encourage diverse groups to creatively program and draw the most interest back to the straight. Further the merger plans to create standing seats for leaders in other organizations to force them to take responsibility and interest in a building that is a focal point of the campus they lead. By bringing these leaders together, I hope to foster the group knowledge to further the building, and use their leadership ability to draw more people into the building.
I needed to be sure to be sensitive and responsive to not only our groups’ needs but also the needs of students who will need to work in this framework. I needed to utilize my listening and communication skills to explain the framework, deal with groups, and deal with questions and arguments that have occurred. I brought my experience as the Executive Director of the Cornell Concert Commission to help me deal with the many facets and groups, and all of their needs.
I decided as a leader, I had to take the steps to make change, and not be satiated with the state of things as they are. I realized the need to take bold steps that might not be popular, but to try and work it out in the best interests of the building.
Aside from working on this merger, I have been a participant on the Willard Straight Task Force, a group of students and administrators which have come together to plan the structural changes and planning for the future of the reinvention of The Straight. In these meetings, I have been among many members who have been tapped for our knowledge, vision and leadership ability. My vision is that by making The Straight a cultural center for students, it will force students to take more pride. By bringing new art to the building, students will feel as if their generation has a stake in the building and has a piece of it. By bringing the music they want to hear, and by making it a hopping hub of cultural flow, people will feel that this is the place that they will see the future performers, artists and writers of tomorrow. Students will feel as if it is their building and not an arcane building of past takeovers. Students will feel that it is a building worth taking over to make a statement.
Aside from working in Willard Straight Hall, I have risen to become the Executive Director of the Cornell Concert Commission, the largest student group on campus. In this rank I have had to deal with many issues and responsibilities, acting as the face and voice of the organization to students, faculty, administrators, and the Ithaca community as a whole. In this time I have been in charge of organizing and running Executive body and General body meetings. I have had to act as a unifying bond between all the Executive Board members to ensure that we can safely and effectively run the largest scale activities on campus: 5,000 person concerts. I have had to utilize communication and people skills in working with six very different personalities, and six very strong leaders. Learning how to listen to all people and balance all their needs to come to a final goal has helped to build my patience and listening skills.
Since I have joined the organization, I have noticed a growing feeling in the General Body of a distance from the organization. One of my main goals as director has been to return the organization to the people, which is where it should be. I have acted to stimulate the general body and excite them about the organization. I have started discussion and argument to give the members of such a large organization the feeling of personal responsibility in the organization. The personal responsibility is returning to members, which is necessary to sell 5,000 tickets and work a 24-hour day to set up stages and run the concert. The joy in the organization has also drawn in new members, which allows us to have a diverse representation of the Cornell campus as a whole, which will allow us to best represent the needs to the community as a whole.
Further, as the closing of Bailey Hall has come upon us, we have lost our smaller venue, which severely limits our shows. This creates two major problems that I have tried to solve. First, with the loss of our smaller venue, we are limited in the number of shows we can bring, as the loss of Bailey raises our production cost at least $26,000, not including the huge disparity in the talent cost of artists who can sell 5,000 tickets. Further, the building’s closing has put more demand on Barton Hall and reduced the number of dates we have to work with. The lack of shows has put a strain on the organization, because that is what people come to us for; to work and be a part of shows. However, I have been able to work with my Executive Board and weather this storm, keeping members interested and engaged in the organization and meetings, despite the fact that we have only had one show this semester, as compared to the usual three. I have had to use creative methods meshed with my personnel skills and speaking skills to bring keep people engaged and ready for what looks to be a great semester. This has allowed me to hone my leadership skills, and learn, through these tough times. The pressure to keep the pride of the organization up has helped to teach me more about leadership, patience and group dynamics then I had known before.
A second problem that has come from Bailey closing is the loss of a venue. This has forced us to think outside the box for new options and venues, especially on a campus so limited with space and venues. We have explored and worked on many venues, on and off campus, including the State Theatre and the Ramin Room. A venue we have looked into and are using is the Arts Quad, bringing a free concert the first week of school for the entire campus to enjoy. As a leader, I have been pushing to do whatever we can to try and organize a show on Schoelkopf Field, the first show since Deep Purple in the 70’s. Despite the enormous hurdles that stand in front of the organization in this goal, I do not see a reason why this should not be something to work till. As stated earlier, I refuse to let the status quo be the bar we stand to, and let seeming impossibilities hold us back from what can be an enormous event for our organization and the campus as a whole. Only the next year will tell if we succeed in this goal. Although this future is uncertain, hopefully the outcome will be bright.
