Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

NEWSLETTER
Sign up for our twice-weekly newsletter!

Nick Gumas becomes first candidate for presidential post

Student Association Sen. Nick Gumas, U-At Large, is seeking the organization's top position. Sam Hardgrove | Hatchet Staff Photographer
Student Association Sen. Nick Gumas, CCAS-U, is seeking the organization’s top position. Sam Hardgrove | Hatchet Staff Photographer

Updated Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 11:32 p.m.

A junior who has spent two years in the Student Association Senate announced Wednesday that he will seek the organization’s highest post next year.

Nick Gumas, CCAS-U, said his goals include reducing the fee for students to receive academic credit for internships and expanding offerings at Student Health Service with programs like peer counseling.

“In the past, I think we’ve had candidates who have promised things that quite frankly were never going to happen. And I think that’s a shame because it’s created this environment where people are distrustful of the SA or very cynical,” Gumas said.

Gumas, chair of the senate’s student life committee who helped lobby top administrators this year to relocate Student Health Service to campus, said he would help launch a peer counseling program that trains students to coach their peers on issues like stress management and sexual assault.

Gumas said he also wants to strip away the nearly $4,000 fee for students to have a three-credit internship over the summer.

Part of his platform also focuses on promoting existing services, like resume critiques and group counseling, which he said many students don’t know exist. He said he will create an online directory of all GW services to help students keep track of the dozens of offices, each with their own offerings.

“In the past the SA has primarily been an advocacy organization, and I think that is great, but I think the SA also needs to start doing a better job being a service organization that connects students to resources,” he said.

The two-term senator is the chair of the senate’s Student Life Committee and the president of Allied in Pride, where he has advocated for condoms in residence halls, a campus-wide hazing survey and the chance for prospective GW students to identify as gay, straight, bisexual or transgender on their applications.

He is the first to announce a bid for the top post. Former candidate and alumnus Hugo Scheckter, who launched a hoax campaign earlier this week, said Tuesday that he did not actually intend to run.

Correction appended
The Hatchet incorrectly reported that Gumas was an Undergraduate-At-Large senator. He is an undergraduate senator in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. We regret this error.

More to Discover
Donate to The GW Hatchet