Year: Sophomore
Majors: Political Science and Organizational Sciences
Hometown: San Diego, California
Student organizations/activities: Residence Hall Association, Model UN, GW College Democrats, Alpha Epsilon Pi
SGA experience: Columbian College of Arts & Sciences Undergraduate Senator
Favorite vendor on GWorld: GW Deli
Your favorite “Only at GW” moment: GW Gala this year at the National Portrait Gallery in February
Favorite class: Politics of Employment and Retirement Policy with Janice Butler
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
Which actor would play you in a movie of your life: Cameron Monaghan
Role Model: My mom
Go-to study spot: Third floor of Duquès Hall
This election isn’t Ethan Fitzgerald’s first rodeo.
The Columbian College of Arts & Sciences senator’s track record in student government began in middle school, continued to high school and extended into college, starting with his experience as RHA president for Somers Hall in his first year. Fitzgerald hopes to flex his political muscles if elected to the Student Government Association’s top post by advocating for students’ physical, mental and reproductive health as a cornerstone of his administration, alongside an expansion of dining options and hours and the addition of a voting student to the Board of Trustees.
“I could have easily made smaller platform items, but that’s not the kind of president I want to be,” Fitzgerald said. “I think what would set me apart is I want to take on the big challenges. I don’t want to just put Band-Aids over issues, I want to make sure that the conversations that need to happen are happening.”
As a first-year, Fitzgerald worked as a mental health secretary in former SGA President Christian Zidouemba’s cabinet, where he identified issues with mental health services on campus and possible solutions with mental health activists. He said if elected, he wants to re-establish peer-to-peer mental health service GW Listens after it paused services during the pandemic because it lost its adviser.
He said he also wants to create reservable private rooms for students to take telehealth appointments and put on a mental health day resource fair before finals season each semester.
Fitzgerald said his own experiences with mental health challenges inspired him to run for SGA president. He said he wants to ensure students experiencing challenges receive the help they need and feel more confident speaking up about their hardships.
“We need to recognize that as students we are living in an extremely challenging time, and we don’t have to ignore that,” Fitzgerald said. “And I think we should be embracing one another students on this campus and doing more to foster campus culture.”
He said he wants to offer comprehensive reproductive healthcare because it has become a “major issue” that requires attention from campus leaders since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Fitzgerald said he wants to use the president’s executive budget to halve the cost of contraceptives from vending machines on campus from $10 to $5. SGA President Arielle Geismar previously allocated $1,000 of her executive budget to lower the machine’s contraceptive unit cost from $15 to $10.
Fitzgerald also hopes to make beloved dining options on campus like Carvings and GW Deli accept meal swipes as a form of payment and extend the hours of the dining halls in Thurston and Shenkman and The Eatery at Pelham Commons from 9 to 10 p.m. if elected. He said he also wants to add “baseline standard” foods like pizza and pasta to all dining halls to account for students’ religious dietary restrictions.
Thurston Hall currently offers pizza and pasta options every day and District House provides Baba’s Pizza, both of which are on meal swipes.
Fitzgerald said he hopes to collect student data on adding GW Deli, Carvings and South Block to the meal swipe program and present the information to administrators and vendors to prove that expanding the partnership would bring more business to the restaurants.
He said he discussed the proposal with Executive Director of GW Dining Douglas Frazier, Campus Dining Administrator Emily Eason and Assistant Dean of Student Life Brian Joyce.
“Prioritizing student health is a prerequisite to doing well in all of the categories, and that also ties into a conversation about dining,” Fitzgerald said. “I have a holistic plan for how I want to make sure that we’re fixing GW Dining.”
Fitzgerald also kickstarted a referendum on the ballot this year that will ask students if they want a voting student on the Board of Trustees. The Board rejected the SGA’s proposal to add a student trustee to the body in November.
He said leveraging students’ opinions will be a “strong” sign to administrators about students’ desire to have voting student trustees.
“I think if we actually gave students voting power, they’ll have real influence and a larger say over what’s being done on campus,” Fitzgerald said.
