Candidate Statement: Tim Abbott

ACS at Columbia is already a well funded, hyper organized student group at Columbia, so I feel great about where our organization stands today. But, we face tremendous competition in the marketplace of ideas at the Law School, and so our challenge will be to continue to stand out in the din of liberal voices. We're competing for the time and attention of our fellow students against countless other progressive-leaning groups. As a result, we are not necessarily the standard-bearers for progressive thinking -- in contrast to our FedSoc friends.

For this reason, I envision a real focus on membership building among the future 1L class and community building among our existing members. Especially as ACS defines what ideas truly make it unique, it is vital that an esprit de corps resonates through our members. I would love to see an ACS intramural flag football team, an ACS trip to play laser tag, etc. Thanks to ACS national, we will always have the speakers, but I am convinced that relationships (as well as free food) will be what drives our membership.

As I understand the role, Vice President most clearly addresses about these membership- and community-building challenges, and I'd be glad to take up that challenge. However, essentially all of the board positions touch upon this topic, so I would be comfortable in any of them.