Illustration by Holly Randall

The UA welcomes thousands of diverse and extraordinary students each year. An exceptional number of these students leave their mark upon this great campus as student leaders of clubs, organizations, fraternities, sororities, residence halls, college student governments, and the other countless associations created and led by students at the UA. Although it seems difficult to point out only one of these leaders within a campus that is inching closer to its maximum capacity of 40,000 students, one does not have to look far in order to single out Alistair Chapman as the most active advocate of student needs and concerns that has emerged from our student body this year. Alistair Chapman has been the champion of the student voice, serving us as our student body president for the past 12 months. And at noon today, his term will come to an end.

Some of you may have worked with Alistair this year or know about the many accomplishments initiated by Associated Students of the University of Arizona under his leadership. Many of you who are graduating this year will be able to experience and participate in the UA's traditional campuswide graduation ceremony in McKale Center because of the actions taken by Alistair Chapman. Last fall, UA administrators were facing legitimate and serious problems with the integrity and professionalism of our graduation ceremonies. It was only through Alistair's active opposition to the cancellation of this cherished occasion as well as his ability to work respectfully and diligently with campus administrators that led to the rescue and revitalization of our great day of commencement.

Benjamin Graff Guest Columnist

For many of us, cheering on a great sports program is an integral part of being a Wildcat. For more than a decade, student leaders have struggled to create a student section in McKale. But as a result of Alistair's hard work and leadership, the years of discouraged anticipation are now over. In spring 2006, McKale will finally have a student section.

Alistair's commitment to us reached far beyond our Tucson campus. It is difficult to find a single Arizona regent, state legislator or member of the governor's staff who does not know of Alistair's dedication to the financial needs of Arizona's students. Students returning to our campus next year will face more reasonable tuition increases and will begin to experience improvements in class availability because of the efforts of our student government.

Samuel Chang Guest Columnist

Looking back at Alistair's presidency, it is amazing how much he has been able to achieve for the student body. In addition to his aforementioned accomplishments, some of his other triumphs include playing a vital role in the improvement of student health care benefits and obtaining an on-campus voting site for the 2004 presidential elections as well as future elections to come. Moreover, Alistair provided better representation and access for all of the students in the College of Medicine and the College of Law, and placed our campus on the map for official political debates, campaign speeches and student-oriented civic engagement.

Staying true to his own integrity and strength of character, it is likely that Alistair would wish that this editorial had mentioned the other 100-plus members of ASUA that made many of these accomplishments possible. As we are sure his colleagues would agree, this is one of the many reasons he is such an exceptional leader.

Although Alistair's time as our student body president officially ends today, his contributions to this university will remain as his legacy. Most significantly, his commitment and unwavering devotion to this student body will endure as the standard for future student leaders to come. We invite you to join Alistair on the UA Mall today at noon to thank him for all that he has given to the students of this great university.

Benjamin Graff is a second-year law student, student regent and was the student body president in 2000-2001.
Samuel Chang is a second-year law student and was the UA student body executive vice president in 2001-2002.