Meet the Campaign Managers of GUSA 2015

While 4E has covered the videos introducing this year’s GUSA candidates, some of the key election players were missing – notably, the campaign managers. These people work behind-the-scenes advocating for their man or woman, and we at 4E like to recognize them for their hard work. Without further ado, meet the campaign managers…

Katie Bolas (Tim and Reno)

Katie (SFS ’15) used to be pretty heavily involved in College Republicans and Philodemic Society. Then she went away to London for a year and since then has not been as involved as she would like. As a senior, she is currently most involved in “Please Let Me Into Your Law School” club. Funny enough this is often mistaken for the ice cream and chocolate connoisseurs club.

How did you come to be campaign manager?
Tim simply asked me. We both live in Northeast Ohio and so we met for lunch over vacation and he made “the ask.” He was really nice about it. He just complimented me for a solid five minutes and then asked if I could help out. I think he thought I was going to say no, which would explain the showering of niceties, because this is a position that is generally taken by a junior who wants to become Chief of Staff and not a senior on her way out. What can I say? I think he and Reno would make killer GUSA executives.

What is the role of campaign manager?
I am sure people will give you glamorous answers as to exactly what being a campaign manager entails, but it’s the opposite of that. I would liken it most to being a police officer standing in the middle of an eight way stop with cars coming from every direction at high speeds and not prepared to stop.

If the Tim and Reno campaign could endorse another ticket, which would it be and why?
It would be Abbey and Will. Abbey and Will have a plan. We certainly do not agree with their entire platform, but we do agree with a lot of it. They have concrete ideas coupled with experience.

What is the most surprising thing you have experienced during this campaign season so far?
How seriously people take themselves. I think this is something that the Luther-Rohan campaign has done a great job of pointing out. Don’t get me wrong, we take our ideas and the possibility of Tim and Reno becoming GUSA executives very seriously, but hopefully not ourselves.

What is the spirit animal of your campaign?
That is actually Ellie Valencia’s official title. Need I elaborate?

Presidential candidates oftentimes have a pump-up song associated with their campaign. What would be the song most associated with your campaign?
There is absolutely no consensus on this question. Tim is always listening to Katy Perry so he would most definitely pick something like “Unconditionally.” Reno is more of the rock guy, he likes Weezer, and would pick “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived.” I listen to Lady Gaga like it is my job because she is obviously the best so I would pick any of her songs.

Preston Marquis (Sara and Ryan)

Preston (SFS ’16) is currently involved in the IRC, NSO and GUSA (as Treasurer). He was previously involved in SAC and the Dip Ball planning committee.

How did you come to be campaign manager?
I knew Sara previously from her role as the GUSA Secretary of Transfer Affairs. She always struck me as someone with a lot of focus and direction. Towards the end of the semester last year, she and Ryan approached me about coming on board. I honestly hadn’t envisioned doing much with any ticket this spring but after talking with the two of them, I got a sense that they genuinely wanted to revitalize GUSA’s way of doing business — and that was an opportunity too good to pass up.

What is the role of the campaign manager?
I’ve really focused on bringing together a strong team of performers, empowering/enabling these individuals to go out and do their jobs well and ultimately aligning our actions with Sara and Ryan’s overall direction for the campaign. In my mind, the CM’s role is to organize the flow of information for the candidates and ensure they feel supported as they structure their vision for Georgetown. On the internal side, I believe another job is to help folks working within the campaign feel connected, valued and recognized for their contributions, which is at times challenging when you build such a large organization in a short amount of time.

If the Sara and Ryan campaign could endorse another ticket, which would it be and why?
We are cross endorsing with Chris and Meredith because we share their values. We admire their positivity, their clean and honest campaign and their belief in a diverse and pluralistic GUSA.

What is the most surprising thing you have experienced during campaign season so far?
There seems to be a significant disconnect on the Hilltop between GUSA and a lot of Hoyas, which surprises me given the potential of student government to make a real impact in the undergraduate experience at Georgetown. I think a great example of this is the recent agreement between GUSA and the Division of Student Affairs to implement a cost sharing mechanism for sign language interpreters at student activities. As an institution wrapped in advocacy, GUSA can and does create positive change on behalf of students but somewhere over the past few years it has seemingly lost its ability to connect and communicate with the student body at large. The next Executive needs to reverse this trend and I believe Sara and Ryan have the experience and leadership skill-sets to do so.

What is the spirit animal of your campaign?
President John J. DeGioia

Presidential candidates oftentimes have a pump-up song associated with their campaign (like “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” for President Obama). What would be the song most associated with your campaign?
While my personal choice would be “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire, if I step back and look at things objectively, I’d have to say “Do You Believe In Magic” really captures the energy and essence of our campaign.

Randy Puno and Tim Yim (Chris and Meredith)

Tim Yim

Randy (COL ’16) is the president of Club Filipino, a SAC Commissioner and Chair of the GUSA Fund. He is also Marketing Director for TEDxGeorgetown, an upperclassman facilitator for Spirit of Georgetown and an ambassador for International Pre-Orientation. He’s also performed for GU Children’s Theatre, where he plays a character by the name of Mr. Muffinhead.

Tim (SFS ’17) is the VP for the Taiwanese Student American Association as well as on the board of Club Filipino. He’s been a SOCA representative previously, and he’s worked for CSJ in their DC Reads program. He is currently a TA for the Chinese Department here and is also involved in a couple of other organizations as well as programs and jobs on campus, but doesn’t want to bore us with the list.

How did you come to be campaign managers?

Tim: Chris was my RA freshmen year and when he asked me to help him run his campaign, I said yes on the spot because I knew him to be a good man with kindness. I also knew him as being a nice guy who had some genuine ideas to fix GUSA’s over-inflated self-worth and distance to the people. It’s about connecting to individuals as much as representing them, engaging them to help them understand that the office can do so much better.

Randy: When Tim first approached me about joining a GUSA campaign, I was honestly very skeptical. I wasn’t very optimistic about GUSA, especially after being on a losing team the year before. But when he mentioned “Chris Wadibia,” it excited me. Everyone knew him as Georgetown’s Nicest Man, and I knew he would be the right guy for a GUSA that needed change. When I first met him, he greeted me “Hello, Randy, my friend.” And the rest is history.

What is the role of the campaign manager?
Tim: Now that’s the million dollar question. Campaign managers literally need to be able to do anything. From any of the standard three things: door-knocking, tabling, flyering to setting up logistics, preparing for debates, outreach efforts, as well as just making sure everything is running smoothly. To put it simply, our job is to ease the burden of Chris and Meredith, so they can do what they do best, meeting with people and making a tangible difference. We just take care of most of everything else, and provide counsel when needed.

Randy: Traditionally, campaign managers coordinate everything. They make sure everyone knows their job and executes it. But our team is nontraditional. Instead of having lines of authority, we value horizontal leadership. Every single member of our team signed on because Chris and Meredith personally reached out to them. No one is doing this because they were promised a position in GUSA or because they have a higher agenda (we have many seniors on our team). Everyone on our team gives of themselves because they love Chris and Meredith — which makes the campaign managers’ job simply to channel that passion and energy into effective campaigning.

If the Chris and Meredith campaign could endorse another ticket, which would it be and why?
Tim and Randy: It would definitely be Sara and Ryan. Chris and Meredith are both good friends with Sara and Ryan, and we believe that our views for Georgetown are most closely aligned with theirs. GUSA should be personable and individuals should be passionate about the change they are going to enact, instead of the lip-service and fluff in long platforms they provide. Sara and Ryan understand this in the same way Chris and Meredith do.

What is the most surprising thing you have experienced during campaign season so far?
Tim: The lengths that certain campaigns are willing to go to get elected. This is after all student government, not the White House, and being on the receiving end of character assassinations and false rumors is quite disheartening to see. This campus isn’t and shouldn’t be split into 5 different sections representing each of the campaigns, we are all Georgetown students who want what’s best for the Hilltop, and dirty politicking in the background shouldn’t be what determines the winners.

Randy: I’ll go with something more positive. If you were in Red Square on midnight of the start of the campaign season, you know what I’m talking about. At roughly 12:20, as other teams were finishing up hanging banners, Chris and Meredith led a mob of 50 people out of White Gravenor to hang our beautiful (and Healy-less) banner. We screamed and howled and even turned Red Square into a dance floor. The amount of energy in Red Square was electrifying, and I’m pretty sure no one has ever started a GUSA campaign with the same buzz and noise that we had that night.

What is the spirit animal of your campaign?
Tim and Randy: Left Shark. Much like left shark, we will continue to swim against the current for change. He also digs us.

Arman Ramnath (Joe and Connor)

Arman (SFS ’16) is involved in the Corp, working at Hoya Snaxa. He is also involved in the Georgetown Student Tenant Association and Georgetown Running Club.

How did you come to be campaign manager?
I first met Connor Rohan at 2:00 am at the bottom level of an underground parking garage just over the Key Bridge in Rosslyn. This began an information-based relationship that went on the length of many years. The information he shared eventually led to the resignation of a president. When Connor and Joe Luther announced their campaign I immediately signed on to help because of the work we had done in the past.

What is the role of the campaign manager?
Essentially, my role is to handle all the illegal and corrupt campaign related activities and make sure they never get traced back to Joe and Connor. Joe and Connor are bringing a utopia to Georgetown, and I’m supposed to make sure legality doesn’t inhibit this goal. The rest of the team calls me a “fall guy.” I’m not really sure what that means, but I think it’s a term of endearment.

If the Luther-Rohan campaign could endorse another ticket, which would it be and why?
Definitely the Calvin Coolidge and Charles G. Dawes ticket from the 1924 Presidential Election. They were committed to cleaning up America after Warren G. Harding’s Teapot Dome scandal.

What is the most surprising thing you have experienced during campaign season so far?
I’m incredibly surprised that we are the only campaign to provide a kissing booth to the student body. This is just another example of how we are truly understanding of students. The other campaigns have had numerous opportunities to provide essential services like a kissing booth, yet have all failed. I personally am surprised by the apathy of my fellow campaigns when it comes to truly aiming to serve the Georgetown student body.

What is the spirit animal of your campaign?
Our spirit animal is Vojtek, an adoptive bear to a company of Polish troops during World War II. Vojtec helped move ammunition and fought for what he believed in, just like our campaign. He also drank condensed milk out of a vodka bottle, which is something our campaign team greatly enjoys as well.

Presidential candidates oftentimes have a pump-up song associated with their campaign (like “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” for President Obama). What would be the song most associated with your campaign?
Our campaign song would be Miles Davis’s “Sanctuary.” It’s colorful, unique and promotes an image of a perfect world in which all of life’s negatives are eliminated.

Ken Nunnenkamp (Abbey and Will)

Ken (MSB ’16) is a member of GUCR, a former GUSA Senator, Vice Chair of the Intellectual Life Committee and is a member of the Student Library Council. He went abroad to the Villa last fall.

How did you come to be campaign manager?

Abbey and I have been friends since freshman year. I did a lot of work with her in the Senate, and I worked with her and other student leaders on sexual assault policy for students studying abroad while I was at the Villa last semester. When she was thinking about running last semester, she messaged me and we talked about it extensively. She talked me through a lot of the problems at this university and inspired me to help her change them by running for GUSA. Will, Abbey and I talked a number of times, and since I’ve worked on campaigns outside of GUSA I felt like I could contribute that logistical approach to help support Abbey and Will. After many late-night Skype chats and Viber calls, I was happy and excited to help them in any way they wanted or needed.

What is the role of the campaign manager?

Well, I’m a manager for the most part, taskmaster sometimes and partymaster as often as they’ll let me be. I help make sure that various different parts of the campaign are working together to help us realize our broader vision of bridging the gap between two Georgetowns, and I help Abbey and Will get done whatever needs to be done. For me, the most important part of my job is helping Abbey and Will communicate their vision for Georgetown in a positive and informative manner.

If the Abbey and Will campaign could endorse another ticket, which would it be?

Like Will said in the VP debate, we’ve been very impressed with Tim and Reno’s commitment to bottom-up, policy-driven change at Georgetown, and we’re proud to be cross-endorsing with them.

What is the most surprising thing you have experienced during campaign season so far?

My answer to this one is easy: I was so surprised by the huge amount of support Abbey and Will received from day one. They have the best ideas, the best chance of making a difference and the know-how to get the job done, but it amazed me how people from all walks of life and across all grades came out to support them from day one. I shouldn’t have been that surprised, because their dedication to the future of Georgetown is what convinced me to come on board, but I can’t express my own thanks enough for the great team of people who have rallied in support of Abbey and Will.

What is the spirit animal of your campaign?

Queen B, Beyoncé herself.

I’d have to say that Uptown Funk is probably the closest to answer this question. However, Eminem’s Not Afraid (Abbey’s favorite song) is our pump up song and motivates us all to work harder for a better Georgetown!

Photos: Facebook