Two Corcoran students have accepted positions on GW’s Student Association, the first step toward landing permanent representation in the top student governing body.
The two students will take places in SA President Nick Gumas’ cabinet, part of a larger student-led effort to establish a permanent Corcoran seat on the SA Senate as well.
Since the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences absorbed the Corcoran College of Art + Design, Corcoran students have started to integrate themselves into GW’s campus, receiving GWorlds and GW email addresses, and a small group now resides in on-campus housing.
Camila Rondon and Miguel Perez, the president and vice president, respectively, of the Corcoran school’s student council, will join the SA as director and assistant director of Corcoran student affairs. Gumas and SA Executive Vice President Avra Bossov offered them the positions last week.
“We figured, since they already have a student government infrastructure, we would just ask their president and vice president to see if they were interested in taking the positions, and they were,” Gumas said.
Gumas said the positions are similar to the ones that were created for students from the Mount Vernon College when they became a part of GW in 1999. Rondon and Perez will join nine other directors on the cabinet staff. The other directors represent diversity and inclusion, international students, new students, Mount Vernon affairs, pride and community building, athletics and community service.
The SA could also add a new seat to its senate, but that would take time. Senators would need to pass a bill to change the SA’s constitution, which would then go up for a student vote. In 2012, a referendum to increase the student activity fee in 2012 passed in a similar process.
The senate could add another representative for the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, where the Corcoran is housed. The SA allocates one seat to represent 1,000 students, Bossov said. With the Corcoran’s 550 students, the total number of students in the Columbian College would be greater than 5,000 and could qualify it to add another permanent seat.
Perez said a senate position is necessary for giving Corcoran students a voice in the GW student body.
“Our student body is going to be so specific we feel it would only be fair to have one specific person dedicated to our programs,” Perez said.
The Columbian College has six senate positions at this time, with one vacant seat since a student transferred. Students can start applying now for freshmen and open senator spots.
One Corcoran student, Patrick Quinn, won the vice presidential election for a Residence Hall Association position in Mitchell Hall, where roughly 40 Corcoran students are living.
Bossov said students are also interested in registering official Corcoran student organizations with the Center for Student Engagement so they can receive funding from the SA’s finance committee. The Corcoran boasts student organizations like the Spectrum, which promotes diversity in the arts.
“All things considered, it’s been a pretty smooth transition, obviously there’s always room for improvement, but I would say it’s been a pretty positive thing so far,” Bossov said.
