To add a bit of charm to the daily interaction with GWorld receipts, I will often say to the clerks when they ask for my signature, “Hold onto that, I’m going to be famous one day.” And we both smirk, me thinking, “God, do these things really come out of my mouth?” Them thinking, “How cute, she thinks she’s funny.” However, I recently came to the realization that my practice of trying to make an everyday action seem less mundane might need to be toned down after seeing the unrelenting disparagement of the current SA President, Omar Woodard, after he signed his name, to one famous dinner receipt at the Sequoia Restaurant last summer.
Omar Woodard is one of the most humble and genuine leaders I have come across. He takes the time to speak to and help any student who has a concern, a question, an overheated room, an axe to grind with the administration over final exams or just to check in and say “hi.” As the process to elect new student leaders gets under way and the comparisons begin, each candidate saying, “Well, I’m going to do it better, I’m going to bring change to GW, I’m going to make J Street cheaper, blah, blah, blah.” It would be nice if this year, the mudslinging and denigrating remarks that have been aimed at Woodard for his apparent poor choice in food venue to reward his summer staff for countless hours of unpaid work, could be put to rest. Now, I’m not writing this because Omar secretly took me out to dinner or gave me free GW apparel, but just because I believe in giving credit where credit is due.
Unlike with a GWorld receipt, there are very few times in one’s life that you really get to sign your name onto something that you do. Even as the student leader and most visible pupil of GW, Omar can’t sign his name, or put a stamp on everything he has helped out with as president this past year, nor should he want to. It is this precise reason why I’ve enjoyed having Omar as my president this past year; he doesn’t serve the students to serve his ego, he does it to make a difference. Some are going to accuse the Woodard administration of not meeting all of its campaign promises. Of getting caught in the red tape of GW. Of becoming the administration’s pet. Well, I challenge any person who says that, to follow Omar around for a normal crazy day and then tell him how easy it is to turn the tables at a place that really isn’t that messed up to begin with and has a grip on things like a Georgetown student does on their trust fund.
Of course, the mark of a truly great leader is someone who can do all this and then still make a difference. But has there really been any remarkable opportunities this past year for Omar to seize and change the course of life here at GW? No. You take what you get and do what you can. Sometimes the best leaders are the ones who know how to just maintain the status quo and keep people happy. Omar has done a lot and while perhaps he didn’t get to put his official John Hancock on everything, without him and his cabinet, there are many changes that would not have been facilitated.
It was about two weeks ago when I ran into Mr. Woodard in the hallway of the Marvin Center that I decided to see how he was doing and chat about a few things. On the way down the stairs into H Street, I took a moment, knowing his term was about to come to an end and say: “You know, I just wanted to say that I think you did a really good job this year and have a remarkable approach to leadership that is calm, humble and unique.” Now I meant what I said, but I figured it was more of a cordiality, just because I thought that he must hear that sort of compliment all the time. Instead, he turned to me with a look of utter defeat and surprise, and said, “Well, I wish more people felt like that, could you spread the word?” At that moment, I remember thinking to myself, “Wow.” This person has put in countless hours and given his entire being to the 10,000 students at this school and what has he gotten for it? Apparently not enough. So, if anything, Mr. Woodard, this one’s for the record.
-The writer, a sophomore majoring in journalism, is a Hatchet columnist.
