Members of the Student Association are working during the summer on improving next year’s SA and winning back the trust and respect of students after a tumultuous year.
SA Executive Vice President Caity Leu said many issues the organization is working on center around making the SA more “proactive” this year.
Leu said the most important issue is probably the large incoming freshman class. Leu said this class has the potential to be a “huge asset” to the GW community. But Leu said she feels the GW community will suffer if potential class size problems are not handled properly.
“Classes are already crowded, sometimes causing students not to have seats during their classes,” she said. “With the incoming freshmen, this will be a huge problem unless the University creates new sections.”
Leu said she is concerned there may not be enough classroom space and professors to teach the new sections. Leu said the SA has been trying to address these potential problems with the administration to catch the problems before they start.
Other problems may occur during the year with the new freshman residence hall on Virginia Avenue. Leu said during the fall she intends to go door-to-door in the residence hall to ask the residents how they feel about their living conditions. Leu said she wants the SA to work with the Residence Hall Association and the Community Living and Learning Center to alleviate any problems.
SA President Phil Meisner said he is worried about student apathy and wants to get students more involved in the SA.
“The apathy really concerns me,” he said. “If it doesn’t reverse itself, you’re headed down a really bad path.”
He said the SA must make students believe they have the power to accomplish things and that they are not just “hacks” if they work with the SA.
“The freshmen are always the battleground against apathy,” Meisner said. “But this class is particularly significant.”
Leu said she strongly believes the SA is here to help both old students and the new students.
“We were elected to help students, not to play petty politics or squabble amongst ourselves,” she said. “I hope that I can prove that to the freshmen and win back the trust of the people who have become disillusioned with the SA over the past few years.”
-Matt Berger contributed to this report.
