GW recently held the annual Excellence Awards ceremony to recognize student leaders and organizations and their achievements, and I would now like to announce my own award for student leaders. This award is the “People to Watch Award,” and it is to honor the three liberals and three conservatives at GW who have worked to make and have already made a profound difference for their respective causes. And the People to Watch Award goes to:
Kris Hart – Besides a relative meaningless Student Association presidency, Kris Hart is a rising star within the Republican party. Hart is a rare breed at GW. He recently made liberal heads spin when he vetoed a bill from the SA Senate that admonished the University for arresting GW students who were protesting, in their University’s student center, against alleged GW unfair labor practices. Yes, Hart already has learned how to protect corporate interests over the little guy quite effectively. Perhaps this is all due to the time Hart spent as financial director of the National College Republicans.
Allie Robbins – If Kris Hart caters to corporate interests, Allie Robbins is a Marxist. Robbins – a strong supporter of workers’ rights – has been effective over her years at GW in bringing the University’s labor practices to the forefront of concerned students’ consciousness. Robbins, one of the nine GW students arrested for demanding more benefits for employees of the University, is certainly on her way to becoming a liberal leader of the future. While she has a quiet overall demeanor, her actions certainly speak loudly.
Rick Barry – As an editor of GW’s conservative student newspaper, The GW Patriot, Rick Barry is certainly a kinder, gentler Jerry Falwell in the making. With his constant whining and complaining over college students’ obsessions with sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, it is no wonder that Barry might actually become Liberty University’s next chancellor. Indeed, Barry often cannot go a sentence while making an argument without invoking the radical evangelical interpretation of the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
Mosheh Oinounou – For effectively running the New York Times at GW, Mosheh Oinounou needs to be recognized for his effective management of The GW Hatchet as its editor in chief. With its flaming liberal editorials and op-eds, The Hatchet has become a haven for liberal thinkers at GW. Even Barry has recognized Oinounou’s work, going so far as to parody it in his own paper.
Christian Berle – If anyone at GW emulates Karl Rove on this campus, it would have to be Christian Berle. This future Republican leader has proved through SA campaigns that he will do anything it takes politically to win an election. Whether it be smear tactics, funny interpretations of election campaign rules or downright good politicking, Berle has certainly created quite an ideologically divisive reputation for himself at GW. But the scariest thing about Berle is that he has a college education, while Rove does not.
Emily Goodstein – This pro-abortion activist has certainly breathed new life in the debate over reproductive rights at GW. While feminist student organizations have drifted away and lost their influence at GW, Goodstein has led her personal crusade for the right of women to have the option of abortion in America quite effectively. While her “Birthday for Roe” party, which celebrated the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, may have been inappropriately titled last year, it certainly did cause the debate over abortion rights to begin anew at GW. As a matter of fact, pro-life groups have recently formed at GW in response to Goodstein’s work.
–The writer, a senior majoring in human services, is a Hatchet columnist.
