Being an effective leader of the Georgetown University Student Association has nothing to do with slick politicking or bold promises of reform. It requires a strong working knowledge of the University’s administrative system and experience with using GUSA to implement change. The candidates for GUSA President and Vice-President who best meet these requirements are Brian Morgenstern (CAS ‘05) and Steve de Man (CAS ‘04).
Morgenstern and de Man’s platform focuses on tenable goals with tangible benefits for students. Their priorities include expanding Georgetown University Transit System services, resuscitating Student Bartender Night and ensuring that University administrators stick to their commitment to end the lockdown. They also propose to get at least three home men’s basketball games in McDonough Arena on next season’s schedule and to develop a new, comprehensive alumni networking website. While many GUSA candidates have similar goals, Morgenstern and de Man’s proposals are the most cost-effective and efficient. Case in point: While other candidates proposed expanded GUTS services on weekends, a daunting task due to limited funds, Morgenstern and de Man advocate simple route extensions. Their focus on thoughtful, pragmatic goals is a hallmark of successful GUSA executives.
Unfortunately, of the two candidates, only Morgenstern has experience with GUSA, where he is currently chair of the Housing and Facilities Committee. De Man, a transfer student, is president of the Mock Trial and Law team and a member of the College Academic Council. However, Morgenstern has a keen grasp of GUSA that de Man’s inexperience does not dilute, and de Man is a passionate advocate for students in his own right. But most importantly, Morgenstern and de Man share a realistic understanding of the student association’s capabilities and a conscious focus on achieving practical goals.
Morgenstern and de Man do have room for improvement. Among their top priorities are the creation of a student pub and the return of student bartending night at Hoya’s. There are more pressing issues facing students, such as the proposal to provide free and anonymous HIV testing on campus: Morgenstern and de Man should reprioritize. Additionally, their emphasis on individual goals is occasionally at the expense of larger issues that the leaders of the student body need to understand, even as they focus on more tenable priorities. For example, they are well-versed in how to lobby for the creation of more student space in New South, but have a shaky understanding of the proposed changes to the University’s sexual assault policy.
Brian Morgenstern and Steve de Man are strong, experienced candidates for the GUSA executive seats, and we endorse their bid on condition that they both reorder their priorities to reflect how urgently they are needed and better research larger campus issues.
While Rob Hutton (SFS ‘04) and Nazareth Haysbert (CAS ‘05) both have GUSA experience, their expansive platform lacks focus and they strongly emphasize their plan to facilitate radical change within the student association. Hutton and Haysbert contend that they will reorganize GUSA to be a “true representative body,” an ill-defined objective that would detract from actual, practical goals that clearly benefit students. They have similarly ambitious plans to reform the roles of both the Department of Public Safety and Office of Housing and Conference Services, tasks that are simply beyond the reach of the student association. They also propose changes to the campus security system that would involve moving all of the GOCard machines from outside dormitories to individual hallways, an unnecessary expense that would do far less to increase campus security than simply ending the lockdown.
However, their platform does include a number of realistic, desirable goals that other candidates did not suggest, such as modifying the University telephone system so that students can have caller ID systems on their phones. So that they might implement their more practical proposals, we encourage Hutton and Haysbert to remain involved in GUSA during the coming academic year.
While Steve Palmese (MSB ‘04) and Tim Nunziata (MSB ‘04) have both held positions as student leaders, neither has any experience with GUSA. The centerpiece of their thin platform is the creation of a “Georgetown Funding Commission” to collect corporate donations. Palmese and Nunziata contend that their proposed fund would give GUSA all the money it could ever need; unfortunately, financing costly projects takes more work than simply creating a bank account for others to pour money into.
They do have a list of small proposals for enhancing campus life, such as adding more dining hall theme nights and expanding homecoming tailgating activities, but fail to realistically address larger issues, such as the future of New South: A new bowling alley is not a reasonable, cost-effective goal for a University already involved in many major construction projects.
Palmese and Nunziata lag far behind the other candidates in their general understanding of the University’s organization, especially in important departments such as Student Affairs, Office of the Provost and Office of Housing and Public Services. They simply do not have a realistic understanding of campus bureaucracies or of GUSA’s capabilities. One of their many campaign promises is to complete the new Performing Arts Center, (using their fund), but, unlike Morgenstern and de Man, they fail to take into account both town-gown politics and the limitations on what GUSA executives can accomplish.
Morgenstern/de Man is the only ticket with both practical goals and strong experience in student politics. On Monday, vote Morgenstern/de Man.
