Entrepreneur Lauren K. Harris announced her candidacy for Student Government Association president last week.
Harris, a junior majoring in international affairs, said if elected, she plans to improve the SGA’s visibility and build relationships with students through tabling and expanding the SGA’s newsletter to include updates from senators. Harris, a D.C. native, said she wants to increase the University’s recognition of the District’s history and “do more” to recognize that the University inhabits land that Anacostan, Piscataway and Pamunkey people have resided on for generations.
She said she also plans to boost the recognition of D.C.’s history and explain how it intertwines with GW by hosting large-scale events, including a go-go festival which will highlight the genre of music that originated in the District by Black musicians in the 1970s.
“We need more celebration on why D.C. is a great community and a great place to be,” Harris said. “I think there’s so much of our culture here that goes underserved, underrepresented because students don’t feel equipped to be able to explore other regions and other neighborhoods.”
The Office of Student Life runs District Connections, a program to help first-year students explore D.C. Harris said she plans to partner with District Connections and HumanitiesDC — an organization that works to engage D.C. residents with public programming. Harris said she wants to create field trips for students to explore museums, neighborhoods and historical sights to show students there is a “friendly part” of D.C. outside of Foggy Bottom, and it’s more than the “crime-ridden” stories students may see on the news.
Harris said she decided to run for president after she saw the GW community embrace the weekly flea markets in Kogan Plaza she helped oversee as the vice president and finance chair for GW Startup Avenue, a student organization that works to help students run their small businesses. She said she worked with the University to organize the flea markets last semester, which made her realize she wanted to help plan more events for the GW community and become an advocate for GW students.
“Just being so welcomed by them made me realize that this is really a place where I can become a community leader,” Harris said.
Harris said she also wants to expand the SGA’s newsletter to include information about the University’s different colleges from the senators to help the body build a relationship with students. The SGA’s newsletter is currently circulated weekly to students with comments from the SGA President Arielle Geismar and Vice President Demetrius Apostolis and includes announcements about initiatives the governing body is working on, and Harris said if elected she wants to include more senators on the newsletter.
“I think it’d be great if we can have all the senators involved in that on a regular basis,” Harris said.
Harris said she plans to expand the SGA’s town halls with students to create an “open forum” and help the SGA become a “better liaison” between administration and students. She said she also plans to create a calendar at least a month in advance for students that outlines when SGA members are available to speak with students.
“The SGA can do a lot to amplify the voices of the student body, not just those that are elected officials or appointed representatives, but people that are the average student that wants to be heard to administration,” Harris said.
Fellow presidential candidate Nicky Beruashvili is also campaigning on increasing communication with students through town halls and newsletters. SGA Vice President Demetrius Apostolis also campaigned last year on hosting meetings between students, SGA leadership and administrators two to three times per semester to deliver student feedback on University initiatives.
Harris said as the only woman running for president, she has a “vested interest” in representing women and protecting the rights of female students. She said if elected she will work to increase students’ knowledge of the Title IX Office by working with officials to require students complete a yearly, interactive module, which she wants to spark peer discussions.
All incoming students are required to complete a Title IX module and first-year in-person students are also required to complete a training session during orientation week.
Harris said she will also try to ensure the Title IX Office is communicating with students about complaints, as she knows many students have not been satisfied with prior experiences with the office. She said she hopes to create a Title IX task force where students can report concerns about the office and conduct an audit of anonymous Title IX surveys to “locate gaps” in the office’s operations.
“In my experience, they’ve been effective, but I understand that there’s a lot of people that feel like they’re not adequate,” Harris said. “I want to make sure that we can address that and make them feel that there are other GW offices that are doing more to support them.”
Students voiced concerns in 2021 about delayed outreach and privacy breaches from the Title IX Office in response to reports of sexual assault.
Last year, vice presidential candidate Arya Thakur said he would build a Title IX task force with as many as 50 students composed of SGA members, student leaders and Title IX staff that have a direct line of communication to officials in order to air their concerns.
Harris fulfilled the signature requirement and will be on the presidential ballot at the election April 11 and 12.
