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Former SA Presidents focused on supporting costly intiatives to accomplish their goals, but today's SA executives emphasize lobbying and advocating on behalf of students.
SA President Nicole Capp, along with Executive Vice President Brand Kroeger, successfully lobbied for the return of the GW Reads program, the Colonial Invasion pep rally and, most notably, the addition of Safeway to the GWorld Colonial Cash program.
"It's been advocacy every step of the way," said Capp, a junior. "It will continue to be advocacy all throughout the year."
The SA has the power to pass nonbinding resolutions and use meetings with administrators to lobby on behalf of students and help meet students' demands. But the University does not have to comply with the SA's demands. This has led to the organization's branding as a "do-nothing" body.
Robert Chernak, senior vice president for Student and Academic Support Services, said advocacy should not be the only role of the SA.
"I think a more accurate term describing my interaction with Nicole and Brand, rather than simply advocacy, would be open communication and a sharing of ideas about problems," Chernak wrote in an e-mail.
Chernak said that there has been "significant agreement" between University administrators and student leaders on numerous issues.
Director of the Student Activities Center Tim Miller said advocacy should be the focus of the SA.
"Many initiatives that the SA would create could more easily be adopted by a University department if they are made aware of the student need," Miller wrote in an e-mail. "If the SA spends too much of their energy on creating initiatives and programs then they are missing the opportunity to make significant long-term change."
Capp and Kroeger have both said they have worked closely with Chernak and other University administrators on numerous projects.
Kroeger, a junior, said he and Capp faced criticism from people within the SA for advocating for the return of the GW Reads program and Colonial Invasion.
