One year ago I took the oath of office as the 22nd GUSA president. One year later, I am in a good position to reflect on the past year with a sense of detachment and provide some analysis, criticism and conclusions on what the 22nd executive has meant for Georgetown and where the Student Association can go from here.
Our most certain legacy was a demonstration that the executive could achieve results. With new vendors in Hoya Court, the pilot Supper with Jesuits program, improvements in Peer Education, the Spirit Campaign, arts and culture events and the Stop the Raid on Student Aid campaign, I certainly feel that we can look on the past year with pride. In addition, a new vendor in Darnall Hall, the Sumer Alvarez Spring Arts Festival and a Sexual Assault Survivor Advocacy Class are among the efforts that will come to fruition as the year draws to a close.
Given that most previous Executives would accomplish on average no more than a single one of their goals during their term, I believe that we have demonstrated a new model for success in terms of getting things done.
Yet the executive was marred by a failure in internal organization and external communication. Organizational priorities and internal communication were unclear. Appointment processes were botched. And for all its abilities to make things happen on campus, this past executive was unable to communicate these projects effectively to the students it represented.
Campus media outlets were neither consistently communicated with nor given the appropriate context within which to understand this new system of action. The result was an often uninformed and under-researched press coverage that did not accurately depict the actions and priorities of the organization.
In the confusion, many individuals failed to perform their duties. It is hard for me to find fault with them. They do a difficult job, with no appreciation from the students for whom they work so hard and faced with often unfounded, uninformed and caustic criticism.
I am in awe of those remarkable individuals I have worked with in the past year who have given of themselves time and time again, putting in long hours under these conditions, performing tasks that have been thought to be impossible, innovating solutions to problems that have long been thought to be unsolvable. All credit belongs to them.
I hoped to prove this year that GUSA could make a difference on campus, and I believed that doing the work was more important than talking about it. This is not good enough for an organization that has a responsibility to communicate effectively with the student body.
I believe that the next administration will have to combine the executive know-how that our administration developed with the political gumption of an effective communications and outreach strategy.
Also, they must ensure that GUSA becomes more of a professional organization and that the executive has clearly defined roles and responsibilities, that individuals can be more empowered to make a difference for this school, and that students can know that they have an effective system in motion to serve them. I have put together a model that I believe fulfills these needs, and I certainly hope the next president is amenable to continuing these ideas.
Ultimately, students will decide the role they wish to play in the larger enterprise of Georgetown University. An effective executive, communicating with students, knowledgeable and professional in its dealing with administration, and maintaining a strategic vision can do a great deal to open up opportunities for its students—whether it’s in determining the policies that affect our lives, in tying our efforts to the efforts of the University as it fulfills its mission as a Catholic and Jesuit institution and in celebrating our university as the wholly unique, often imperfect but remarkable place that it has been my honor to serve this past year.
