Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Duluth, Minn.
Major: International Affairs and Organizational Sciences
Clubs/activities: Sigma Iota Rho, Delta Phi Epsilon, International Affairs Society, Alternative Greek Council vice president of administration, Women’s Leadership Network director of undergraduate outreach, University Hearing Board justice, Center for Student Engagement’s New Student Organization Committee, 2016 Colonial Inauguration Siblings Program staffer
Previous SA experience: Freshman Advisory Council, Joint Committee of Faculty and Students representative, current ESIA-U senator
Favorite GWorld spot: Wicked Waffle
Dream job: Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. The person that oversees all the hiring and the management aspects of the state department.
Fun fact: I sat next to Joe and Jill Biden in church in South Carolina during spring break a couple years ago.
Favorite D.C. museum: Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument and Museum
All-time favorite city: Seattle because it’s the perfect mix of D.C. and my hometown of Duluth.
Favorite show on Netflix: “Parks and Recreation”
Sydney Nelson said when she worked as a Colonial Inauguration staffer last summer, she saw how excited incoming students were to start at GW after registering for classes and meeting their roommates. But after a while on campus, she found that those same students were jaded and felt their opinions didn’t matter to administrators.
“It made me realize that there is a lot that we need to do to bridge that gap and to make sure that when students are excited freshman year, they maintain that excitement and that love for this college when they graduate,” she said.
Nelson said as the executive vice president of the Student Association, she will help students feel involved in and enthusiastic about GW.
Her platform includes plans for more detailed course descriptions on syllabi – including projected textbook costs – and lowering public transportation costs. Nelson said she will also re-approach administrators who rejected a plan to partner with the WMATA to offer students cheaper rates.
Outside of CI and the SA – where she is the Elliott School of International Affairs undergraduate senator – Nelson is an active member of seven student groups, including the Women’s Leadership Network and the Alternative Greek Council.
She said she is a strong candidate to represent the student body as EVP because of her involvement in multiple student groups.
“EVP has a really unique opportunity to make sure that student voices are heard, not only on the administrative level, but also within the senate by empowering all the different senators in the different schools,” she said.
Nelson said her plan to create a Dean’s Student Advisory Council to give students more direct communication with administrators will start for the Elliott School by the end of the year. She said she’s ready to take the project University-wide because she has already has designed the structure for the Elliott School.
“This first step is done and now it is all about how we make this model fit the other schools and colleges at GW,” she said. “Should I serve in the EVP role, I would be able to hit the ground running.”
