A week after winning the GUSA executive election, President-elect Clara Gustafson (SFS ’13) and Vice President-elect Vail Kohnert-Yount (SFS ’13), are planning their transition strategy and selecting their cabinet with the help of Jake Sticka (COL ’13), who will act as their Executive Chief of Staff.
In an interview with the Voice, the newly elected executives said that they are recruiting for the new vacant cabinet positions, and will accept applications over the course of spring break. “Recruiting the most diverse and talented cabinet possible is really important to us, and that determines a lot of our agenda for the next year,” Kohnert-Yount said.
Gustafson also highlighted the importance of publicizing the jobs’ availability to the entire student body. “There are always students we have in mind for these positions, but making sure that the whole student body knows that those are open to anyone who is passionate about those subjects is really important,” Gustafson said.
The two cabinet positions they’ve prioritized are the Sustainability Chair and the newly created Secretary for Social Justice. “We think that right now at this point in Georgetown’s trajectory, it’s important to have a person in GUSA who’s advocating for social justice,” Kohnert-Yount said.
This year, Gustafson and Kohnert-Yount have had the rare opportunity of a week-long transition period between the two executives. They were able to meet with last year’s President and Vice President Mike Meaney (SFS ’12) and Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) to discuss priorities, and allow the outgoing executives to pass on GUSA knowledge. The former staff will meet with Gustafson’s future staff as well.
“I think it’s great that we have this transition process,” Sticka said. “It wasn’t implemented in the past.”
“[GUSA] is a great institution, and we don’t want to lose out on the institutional memory in the turnover,” Kohnert-Yount said. “We want to build on the institution that they built because they did such a great job.”
Meaney and Laverriere did not have this transition period when entering office. “I definitely wish we had a formal transition. I believe the meetings during these weeks are extremely beneficial to explain where Mike and I succeed and also where Mike and I made mistakes,” Laverriere wrote in an email.
On SAFE reform, the new executive recognizes that overseeing the next steps is a serious responsibility. “We want to make sure that the University doesn’t back out on their word in the written document that they signed,” Gustafson said. She plans to keep up with the steering committee heads for each proposal to ensure that all goes according to plan.
“I think when we sat down with Mike and Greg, they said one of our biggest responsibilities as executive this year is to make sure that the SAFE reform proposals are implemented well,” Kohnert-Yount said. “This is a great opportunity to make amazing, institutional and lasting change at Georgetown…literally once in a lifetime, and we’re not going to blow it.”
Another important issue in their platform is gender-neutral housing and making Georgetown a better place for LGBTQ students. “We’re very realistic about the gender-neutral housing issue. I think that for various issues related to the identity of our university as a Catholic university there is going to be a lot of push back,” Kohnert-Yount said. They plan to apply for an LGBTQ “Rainbow House” on Magis Row as a pilot experience for gender-neutral housing.
On holding the administration accountable, Kohnert-Yount asserted the importance of persistence. “You really have to demonstrate why a change is going to make Georgetown a better place…the administration likes to drag their feet…because it’s a big institution and a lot of inertia. It takes a lot of force to move an inch,” she said.
She also mentioned the Center for Social Justice’s struggle to find a new director. “That’s going to be one of our top priorities as well…so in a year we can feel that there is hopefully a new director in place, but nothing something that needs to start now,” she said.
Both reflected on the number of vital initiatives facing them this semester−from SAFE reform to the search for a new Provost, redesigning Leavey Center, the New South Student Center, and Campus Plan negotiations. “We are at this critical juncture, and we believe that when all these big decisions are being made about Georgetown’s future, that students should have a seat at the table,” Kohnert-Yount said.
