Knock Knock.
Who’s there?
It’s us again. During the campaign, we promised to make Georgetown a YOUtopia. Many people, however, are still unsure of how we’re going to go about attaining perfection for the entire student body. Well, baby, let’s get enlightened.
We decided to run for GUSA for two reasons. The first is that it would be incredibly funny if two satirical candidates with no experience were to win a student government executive election at Georgetown University, a mecca for politically savvy pre-professionals. The second is that those same politically savvy pre-professionals who normally ascend the GUSA throne fail to govern in an inclusive manner that puts students first, and we felt that we could change that. And we will.
After our unexpected victory, we asked ourselves, “now that we’ve been elected, how do we tangibly improve Georgetown and fulfill GUSA’s mission of truly representing the student body?”
We acknowledged GUSA’s failure to inform, engage, and inspire the student body in the past, and so did the student body by putting aside our conspicuous lack of credentials to voice their displeasure with the current state of affairs. We also understand that recognizing failure and satirizing that failure is only the first step toward crafting effective policy.
That being said, we have already taken great lengths to ensure that we reanimate the lifeless corpse of GUSA and solidify our place in history as the most proactive, attentive and handsome executives of all time.
At the core of our administration is the belief that people should drive policy, not the other way around. A top-down approach where a platform and micromanagement dictate GUSA’s direction may provide explicit guidance to cabinet and staff members, but passion is extinguished and ingenuity stifled in the process.
We believe that if we gather the most spirited, intelligent, creative and engaging Hoyas from every corner of campus and give them the autonomy to succeed in their respective positions (with our handsome support, of course), then GUSA can finally begin to represent the student body. Our staff and cabinet will come together to form and implement policy that will be executed by those who know and care about individual issues.
A bottom-up approach, driven by people and not foreordained policy, is what GUSA needs to be truly representative and inclusive for all students (and not just the handsome executives). The success of this project is not guaranteed.
A lot of people do not like GUSA. We understand that because we used to be the loudest among those ranks. But now we are GUSA. Now we have the unique ability to transform the culture of this institution, but we cannot make this change solely through our election.
Much of our plan hinges upon whether or not we attract the right people for every position; we don’t want some naive overachiever with a hereditary knack for resume-building to be the only person to apply for our secretary of the arts position because “Van Gogh is trippy.” We want the people who really care about the issues and are ready to fight for them. This is where you come in.
If you are a self-driven individual who cares deeply about some issue on this campus that you believe needs to be addressed, then we want you in our cabinet or staff. We are currently accepting applications for dozens of positions on HoyaLink. Completed applications are due Tuesday, March 17 at 11:59 PM. If you do not see a position that suits your passion, feel free to reach out to us about potentially establishing a new position.
You are the most important part of creating a YOUtopia. You endorsed us, you elected us, you believed in our message. Now it’s time to follow through.
P.S. It’ll be really fun.
Joe Luther and Connor Rohan are president-elect and vice president-elect of the Georgetown University Student Association.
