Nate Tisa (SFS ‘14) and Adam Ramadan (SFS ‘14) ended their tenure as GUSA executives on Sunday as Trevor Tezel (SFS ‘15) and Omika Jikaria (SFS ‘15) were sworn in. Tisa and Ramadan’s term in office leaves a legacy of bold leadership, strong action and recognition of student concerns.
Tisa and Ramadan continued the trend of executive activism shown by their past two predecessors. Their immovable stance against the satellite campus and relentless work toward lifting the keg ban led to positive results from the administration and victories for not only GUSA, but the Georgetown student body as a whole. Other notable feats of their executive team include changes in the sexual assault amnesty policy, the formation of the Georgetown Tenant Student Association that gives valuable advice to student tenants, and the introduction of What’s a Hoya. Even toward the end of their year in office they continued to make significant pushes in the area of free speech at Georgetown.
Yet, though terms do not always involve “Speakergate” scandals, each GUSA executive is not without flaws. The One Georgetown, One Campus initiative was effective in motivating the student body and showing the administration how much students were invested in preventing even the thought of a satellite campus. Because of the last-resort nature of referendum use, the satellite campus referendum was perhaps a preemptively aggressive move that could have further alienated the administration during the campus plan decision process, as the satellite option was not even a confirmed frontrunner. Nonetheless, the Tisa/Ramadan executive took the risk and reaffirmed the importance—and persistence—of students’ voices.
Tisa/Ramadan were elected largely in part due to their platform’s strong commitment to free speech and sexual assault reform, and they followed through in fine fashion. What’s a Hoya was a strong idea, though, as seen in critiques from this year’s GUSA campaigns, left more to be desired from its execution. The last executive, nonetheless, set the foundation for Tezel/Jikaria to improve the incentive system and include more student groups in those conversations. We hope the incoming executive will also prevent us from having to report on a voluntary sexual assault awareness ice cream social and instead ensure that mandatory sexual assault education remains part of the NSO agenda.
In addition to broader problems, the Tisa/Ramadan executive took decisive action in response to immediate student needs. Regardless of whether one cares about the future of lofty systemic issues within University bureaucracy, it’s safe to say most Georgetown students appreciate being able to drink from kegs at their weekend parties and seek advice on how to decode their off-campus leases. Overall, The Tisa/Ramadan term gave GUSA the teeth it needs to back student interests. As Tezel and Jikaria gear up to take on the next year, we only hope they will continue in this same tradition.
