CANDIDATE FOR VICE PRESIDENT

Trey Harris

On November 14, the USENIX Board of Directors forced the resignation from the SAGE Executive Committee of two of the most active members of our community--Barb Dijker, former SAGE President, and Peg Schafer, former SAGE Treasurer. The Board has since apologized for its actions, but it has not made any real amends for them. This injustice spurred me to run for USENIX office in this election. Not for revenge or to right this single wrong, but because I see this action as indicative of a larger pattern, and a disturbing one. USENIX is an organization I care about, one that has given me much over the nine years I've been associated with it. I cannot stand idly by and watch it continue on a destructive path.

There are two equally destructive paths I see in front of the organization. One, the "tail wagging the dog" scenario, has SAGE, now representing over 60% of the USENIX membership, becoming the driving force for future USENIX projects, with USENIX becoming a figurehead umbrella organization. Two, the one intimated by the November 14 actions, has USENIX exerting a capricious and overbearing rule over SAGE in an effort to display control. Either would inevitably lead to the failure of both organizations. I believe there is a third option--to share governance and fiduciary responsibility in a reasonable, well-documented, and accountable way. For the good of both SAGE and USENIX, we must find this third option and make it work.

Only a small fraction of our membership takes the time to vote in USENIX elections, so I would like to extend my thanks to you for taking the time to be involved in the future of your organization.

Biography: Trey Harris is Secretary of SAGE. He lives in New York, where he works in UNIX Engineering at the financial services firm Morgan Stanley.

<-- Candidate Index

Next Candidate -->