On Saturday evening, in Healy Hall, GUSA executives-elect Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) and Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14) took their oaths of office and officially became the new leaders of student government.

Outgoing GUSA President Clara Gustafson (SFS ’13) swore Tisa into office.

“I, Nate Tisa, do hereby affirm that I will faithfully execute the office of the president of the Georgetown University Student Association and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution and bylaws of the student association,” he said.

Ramadan, incoming vice president, took his oath of office immediately after. Outgoing GUSA Vice President Vail Kohnert-Yount (SFS ’13) read the oath of office to him. He chose to place his left hand on Georgetown at Two Hundred and explained his symbolic reasoning for doing so later.

“In his speech, Nate said that we are at a crossroads, and, truth be told, it’s not only Georgetown that stands at a crossroads, but the Jesuit identity,” Ramadan said. “As a campus, we can drift away from tradition and just kind of wander off or we can reignite the fire and the passion in the community that have defined Georgetown for so long and bring the love and acceptance that this tradition has taught for the past 224 years. Part of the reason I brought that book is that it shows where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going.”

Once Tisa and Ramadan were sworn in, each gave a brief address. After thanking Gustafson and Kohnert-Yount for their work as the preceding GUSA executives and thanking his campaign team for their support, Tisa addressed the unsuccessful GUSA tickets. “To me, the most remarkable thing about this campaign wasn’t the differences between the [different tickets'] platforms, but the similarities and the agreements,” Tisa said. “The student voice was very loud and clear on this, and we plan to move forward on those issues of agreement.”

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Many students have no doubt attempted to block all mention of GUSA from their mind, from being quiet when someone knocks on the door to keeping one’s head down walking through Red Square. But with the approach of voting day on Thursday, it’s about time to start considering who to vote for. For those of you who are too lazy to read up on the candidates, here’s a list of which student groups are supporting each of them.

Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) and Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14)

Earlier today, the Voice Editorial Board announced that it decided to endorse the Tisa/Ramadan ticket because its priorities align with Georgetown’s best interests:

Two weeks ago, the Voice Editorial Board laid out our priorities for Georgetown University Student Association executive candidates this year, naming among our key issues the expansion of the “clear and convincing” evidentiary standard to off-campus incidents, reform of the sexual assault reporting system, student engagement, and social justice. After interviewing each of the teams who granted us an interview, we have decided to endorse Nate Tisa (SFS ‘14) and Adam Ramadan (SFS ‘14) for the GUSA presidency and vice presidency this coming year, as their understanding of what Georgetown’s student body needs best aligns with our values.

Realistically, given the bureaucratic and term constraints of GUSA, tickets can only expect to accomplish a limited number of the policy goals enshrined in their ambitious platforms. Keeping this in mind, the Voice asked each ticket to identify two issues they would not want to leave GUSA without addressing. Tisa/Ramadan chose changing the way sexual assaults are handled on campus and expanding Georgetown’s free speech policy. These are priorities this paper shares.

In addition to the Voice’s endorsement, Tisa and Ramadan have received support from many GUSA senators and student groups, such as the Georgetown Israeli Alliance and Circolo Italiano, according their website.

Other groups listed on the site include GU Pride and H*yas for Choice, both of which support the ticket’s focus on reforming sexual assault policy and focus on improving diversity. GU Pride, of which Tisa is formerly a board member, specifically mentioned his work with the Safe Spaces Initiative and attempt to bring gender-neutral housing to campus.

Read the endorsements received by the rest of the candidates after the jump!

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GUSA leaders came to an agreement with the administration Thursday regarding the planned pub in the New South Student Center.

GUSA President Clara Gustafson and Vice President Vail Kohnert-Yount signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Dr. Todd Olson, vice president for student affairs, to ensure the pub will serve students’ interests (e.g. that it won’t turn into an Epicurean-like business).

The new campus bar will serve beer, wine, and liquor on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights and will include 18+ nights or a system of wristbands for underage students, according to the agreement. The vendor will also be required to hire Georgetown students for part-time positions in addition to creating a committee to guide the business.

“The pub vendor will form a committee, comprised of students, members of Students Affairs, a member of GUSA, and a member from the University Services, and pub vendor, to provide input on menu, food and drink selection, student programming, and advertising of the pub,” Gustafson said.

Gustafson said these requirements are a “real-time” way for students to provide input and will help the pub become a student hot spot rather than another on-campus business overrun by professionals. She believes the accessibility for underage students and its location in the NSSC will help designate the pub as a student-oriented business.

“We are confident [the location] will be a new hub of student life for underclassmen and upperclassmen alike, [and] will draw more students to the space,” Gustafson said.

The pub has been part of the plan for the NSSC since the 2010-2011 school year. This proposal was presented shortly after students and alumni launched a campaign to bring back the Healy Pub. The pub, which opened in 1974 and closed in the 1994-1995 school year, had operated in the Healy basement, but President John DeGioia‘s administration tabled the idea of re-opening the establishment in that location. Students then opted for the possibility of NSSC space.

According to Gustafson, GUSA is already pushing for the ability to pay with GOCards. Vox is just excited that she’ll be 21 by the time the bar actually opens in the 2014-2015 school year (ideally).

Read the full letter after the jump!

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At midnight last night, five tickets announced their candidacy for president and vice president of Georgetown University Student Association.

If the past is to be any guide, the next two weeks will be filled with public displays of patriotism and vandalism, endless weird YouTube videos, and some debate chaos, not to mention the obligatory flyering, incessant dorm-storming, and saturation of social media.

The field presents many familiar faces for Vox but also some new ones. Only one, solitary ticket has avoided climbing the student government hierarchy: Spencer Walsh (MSB ’14), a leader in the credit union, is running with Robert Silverstein (SFS ’14), a member of College Dems.

The remainder of GUSA executive hopefuls, naturally, have experience in GUSA or related groups such as SAC.

Speaker of the GUSA senate Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) is giving a run for the executive’s chair another shot this year but chose to run, instead, with Adam Ramadan (SFS ’14), a member of Hoya Blue.

Another strong candidate, Shavonnia Corbin-Johnson (SFS ’14) boasts receiving the highest number of votes for a senator-at-large in the history of GUSA got a lot of votes once. Perhaps strategically, Corbin-Johnson decided to run with Joseph Vandegriff (COL ’14), who, like sitting GUSA vice president Vail Kohnert-Yount (SFS ’13), served as the president of College Dems in his sophomore year. The Gustafson/Kohnert-Yount ticket likely benefited heavily from the association with College Dems.

The sole campaign including a member of the College Republicans is the Jack Appelbaum (COL ’14)/Maggie Cleary (COL ’14) ticket. Cleary herself ran in 2012 and previously served as chair of College Republicans. Appelbaum distinguishes himself as the former chair of SAC who represented the body on the Student Activities Fee Endowment Commission, which recommended how $3.4 million should be spent.

The final ticket, however, makes a point of not taking itself too seriously: The eccentric senator-at-large Cannon Warren (SFS ’14) is making a run with Andrew Logerfo (COL ’14). Warren has legislative chops serving as vice chair of GUSA’s Finance and Appropriations Committee, while Logerfo works as the Corp’s director of accounting. Their campaign slogan: “Let’s get weird.”

Unlike last year, all entrants are Juniors. The field of ten hopefuls includes just two women, compared to last year’s relative high of six out of 14.

Below the jump, get more analysis and first look at the candidates’ platforms and strategies.
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Huzzah! GOCard access extended for two hours
Georgetown students will soon be able to swipe into any residence hall on campus between the hours of 9 a.m and midnight following GUSA’s resolution two months ago to do just that. Students previously needed to be signed in by a resident of the dormitory after 10 p.m. daily. According to a GUSA press release, Student Housing and Residence Life will implement the change soon.

The bill argued that “limiting access to … dormitories after certain hours impedes the goal outlined in the 2010 Campus Plan of bringing undergraduate social life back to campus,” in the apparent hope that students will get blackout in their dorm rooms instead of walking all the way to Burleith to do it.

GUSA President Clara Gustafson notes that 10 p.m. is an unreasonable time to expect students to be shut in for bed: “Whether studying or attending a party, much of student life takes place after 10 pm.” As GUSA is quick to let Vox know, there are other reasons than for booty calls that people stay up late. Homework and partying are important too.

Although the University has not yet agreed to extending hours to the Hariri Building and Regents Hall, GUSA says they’re working on it.

Zipcar lowers eligibility age to 18
At the GUSA’s request, Georgetown Zipcar now allows nearly all Georgetown students with drivers licenses to rent cars on a short-term basis from the parking lot outside of McDonough Gym. Previously only 21 year-olds could use the vehicles.

“The most striking aspect of the research Senator Singer and I conducted was the fact that our peer universities in the area, George Washington and American, as well as Harvard University and University of Virginia, have an 18+ contract with Zipcar,” Ben Weiss (COL ’15) said at the time. “It only makes sense that we have equal access.”

GUSA also secured three additional cars for Georgetown’s Main Campus—from five to eight, which now includes two SUVs.

A major sticking point in the 2010 campus plan negotiations was student car ownership. In the eventual agreement, Georgetown only promised a vague resolution to better neighborhood traffic: “The University shall implement plans as well for mitigating the transportation and parking impacts from graduate students who travel to the Main Campus, with the goal of achieving significant improvements over current conditions.” Gustafson and GUSA Vice President Kohnert-Yount proposed the idea to mitigate the need for students to bring cars.

Credit where credit is due. Now let’s see if GUSA can make Leo’s run better than a overcrowded Golden Corral.

Yesterday, the Georgetown University Student Association unanimously passed a resolution to finally fix Leo O’Donovan’s Dining Hall. The resolution calls for decreased wait times, increased capacity to accommodate students at peak demand times, increased food options and diversity, increased conservation efforts, increased emphasis on customer service and hospitality, greater cleanliness, and more student input in decisions made by Georgetown Dining.

Although the terms of the resolution are vague, the author of the resolution, Senator Sam Greco (SFS ’15) (Southwest Quad), argues that the lack of detail allows students to take a stand their own behalf, while still maintaining enough flexibility to work with the University and Aramark administrators. Greco explained in debate that despite the lack of a specific plan, the resolution would establish the necessary framework from which students may advocate for their own interests in the dining hall.

In addition to establishing a precedent of pushing for increased student representation in contract negotiations with external companies such as Aramark. The resolution calls for increased access to student feedback gathered from online surveys and comment cards.

As of now, GUSA and other organizations outside Georgetown Dining are unable to access the information gathered in such polls, and the GUSA representatives feel that this is a lack of transparency impedes progress and improvement in the dining hall.

However, as Senator Greco pointed out, the possibility of GUSA gaining access to this information in the foreseeable future is slim, so in order to improve GUSA’s perspective of student concerns, the resolution authorizes GUSA to conduct polls to gather information regarding students’ dining experiences. “Unless we [GUSA] have real, specific things we want, it’s hard to confront them [Georgetown] dining with that,” said Greco.

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Last week, Voxy Gurl took a break for Thanksgiving, and left y’all in the dust. But don’t worry because we’re back in action this week. Though the holiday ended days ago, we’d like to take this moment to thank our commenters for their love disguised in angsty comments, and we’d like to give thanks to the brave President John J. DeGioia and other people, corporations, and organizations that keep Vox‘s  content entertaining.

Last week, GUSA passed a controversial resolution to allow students to enter residence halls after 10 p.m. with GoCards. The current policy as it stands requires students be signed in by a resident if they want to get into a dorm after 10 p.m. any day of the week.

Terrible people felt comfortable, for whatever reason, exposing that he (or she) sleeps at 11 p.m. on weekends. Snoooozer.

As someone who frequently likes to go to bed around 11 pm regardless of the day, I hate having to listen to commotion in the hallways late at night. I don’t care if the hours are extended, but they sound laws must be enforced!

When I Voted Libertarian made a fair point:

Regarding the first sentence:

Resolutions are not bills.

@I Voted Libertarian made a fairer one.

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On Sunday evening, the GUSA Senate passed a resolution “to Establish Free Movement across Campus Buildings.” Debate on an amendment to the proposed bill grew heated.

Introduced by Speaker Nate Tisa (SFS ’14) and Sen. Nolan DiConti (COL ’15), the resolution seeks to mitigate restrictions on building entry, which hinder both academic and social life at Georgetown. The bill urges the administration to extend GOCard access from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. campus-wide, to create 24-hr GOCard access for interconnected living halls, namely Southwest Quad, and to request the McDonough School of Business and Regents Hall to create entrance parity for undergraduates.

“Say I’m in Kennedy and I want to go to McCarthy or Reynolds to study. I have to be signed in to do that,” DiConti said. “Moreover, 10 p.m. is not late by college standards and we all know social gatherings of a larger capacity do not typically start before 10. Such little things limit the Hoya experience.”

“This resolution is a part of a larger narrative here at Georgetown, and that is an initiative by the administration to promote social life on campus, which is a dimension of the 2012 Campus Plan Agreement,” Tisa added.

Vice Speaker Zach Singer (SFS ’15), a co-sponsor of the bill, proposed to amend the resolution from 12 a.m. to 2 a.m. for Friday and Saturday night. “This makes sense in terms of socializing. On Saturday nights, I mean on occasional Saturday nights, you might find yourself wanting to visit someone at 1:30 a.m,” he said.

This comment then opened the floor to a period of debate for the potential amendment.

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This Sunday, the Georgetown University Student Association met to pass by acclamation legislation creating an Election Reform Commission and outlining the GUSA Fund Package.

The Election Reform Commission, introduced by Vice Speaker Zach Singer (SFS ’15) was created in response to dissatisfaction with this year’s GUSA Senate Elections. According to Singer, the current election procedure, voting by ranking, is incredibly inefficient, especially in underclassmen districts with over 15 candidates on the ballot. Senator George Spyropoulos (COL ’14) expressed his support for the new commission: “We were not pleased with the elections this last year, so I think this act is a good idea.”

The commission will be responsible for developing a strategy to maximize efficiency in future elections, particularly in underclassmen districts. However, the commission will not attempt to redraw voting districts, but rather work within the existing districts to eliminate any unnecessary policies that complicate the election process as well as waste time and resources.

The GUSA Funding Package allocates funds to the Latin American Student Association’s Reventon Latino dance performance, the Latin American Career Conference, the Hindu Students Association’s Diwali celebration, and the Georgetown Ballroom Dancing Team, among other groups. In addition, the legislation entertained requests from Disability and Inclusion in the Humanities by Lecture Fund, M.E.Ch.A de Georgetown, and Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Georgetown, but has yet to settle  with the organizations on specific dollar amounts of funds.  The GUSA Funds Funding Package, after being approved by Ways and Means, was the first funding package considered by the Senate, and passed unanimously.

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At the weekly Sunday meeting with the Georgetown University Student Association, the Senate approved two pieces of legislation pertaining to student life: A Resolution with Regards to ZipCars and An Amendment to the Subcommittee Establishment Act.

The first piece of legislation aims at lowering the age required for renting a ZipCar from 21 to 18.  Georgetown currently has a fleet of five ZipCars, located outside McDonough.  Speaker Nate Tisa (SFS ’13) said, “As less than one fourth of the student body have access to a ZipCar currently, this resolution has the potential to help a great number of students.”

The resolution was introduced by Vice-Speaker Zach Singer (SFS ’16), not present at the meeting.  Senator Ben Weiss (COL ’15) spoke on behalf of the legislation, stating,  “The most striking aspect of the research Senator Singer and I conducted was the fact that our peer universities in the area, George Washington and American, as well as Harvard University and University of Virginia, have an 18+ contract with ZipCar.  It only makes sense that we have equal access.”

Senator Weiss went on to reiterate the nature of a resolution, as it is not binding to the administration, but rather an appeal expressing support.  The Senate unanimously passed the resolution.

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