Year: Sophomore
Major: Business administration
Hometown: Newnan, Ga.
Clubs/Activities: Allied in Pride, Black Men’s Initiative, Black Student Union, Muslim Students’ Association
Previous SA experience: GWSB undergraduate senator, 2014-2015
If you didn’t go to GW, where you would be going to school: “Columbia – my number one choice since sixth grade. I started preparing going to Columbia since sixth grade and they denied me. I came here, and it was the best decision.”
Favorite monument: Lincoln Memorial
Captain Cookie order: Chocolate chip cookie sandwich with vanilla ice cream
Season three of “House of Cards” or “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”: “Season three of ‘House of Cards.’ #ReadyForClaire.”
Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks: “If I did not work at Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts.”
Black and blue or white and gold: “I think it’s the lady who makes the dress worth talking about.”
Android or iPhone: iPhone
Dream Commencement speaker: “Kerry Washington, again. I am obsessed with Kerry Washington. My friends back home call me the male Olivia Pope. I honestly think that she is my spirit animal. I’m glad she’s black. I need her to just tweet at me. I think that then I could graduate with a happy face.”

Carlo Wood kickstarted his career in student government on the theater stage.

That’s where he met then-Student Association Executive Vice President Kostas Skordalos, whose girlfriend was a fellow cast member in a student production of “Rent.” Their conversations encouraged Wood to work as a legislative aide for the SA.

“I worked with the EVP on nothing extreme, but I really liked the passion his administration had,” Wood said.

Two years later, he is vying for the Senate’s top spot, running on a platform he said is realistic and tailored to improving daily life for students.

Wood said as a student leader he would draw back on his two years of experience leading organizations on campus. He founded GW Sparks, a group that spreads positive messages on campus, and was on last summer’s Colonial Cabinet.

He added that he will remain grounded as an executive in the SA, taking into account the ideas of students who aren’t necessarily involved in the organization.

“Once you become a student leader on this campus, because of the hustle and bustle, each time you move up in a position, you receive a new perspective,” he said. “But you should never forget the perspective you had before it because that’s how you got there.”

Wood prioritized creating a student bill of rights. That document would outline all of the rules and procedures GW students need to know in one spot, ranging from freedom of speech, to safety and classroom rights.

He added that he hadn’t finalized the points to be included in the document because he wanted to include the next SA president and the student body. Wood said his document mirrors actions at other schools, and would be based off the National Student Association’s bill of rights. None of GW’s peer schools have created a similar, all-encompassing document.

“This would be great opportunity to set ourselves apart from other universities who are beginning to go toward this trend,” Wood said.

Wood said that he wants to include elements that are already common in other schools, such as the right to proper academic space and residential space, and the right to protest. In order to do so, Wood said, “I would look into the current Residential Bill of Rights and Code of Conduct in expanding and more clearly outlining what the all encompassing Bill of Rights would entail.”

He said he will also continue to work on making all room reservations across campus online, a push he has already begun as an undergraduate senator for the GW School of Business. Issues with reserving spaces have been a perennial platform point that regularly comes up during the SA election cycle.

“We don’t have a room reservation system online. We have a paper system,” Wood said. “We’d be restructuring the way we do things for the sake of efficiency, improving student life on a daily basis. It would be really helpful to student groups and student leaders. I feel like in the past few years, there’s been a lot of programming done toward culture shift, and I think that the idea of day to day functionality has been lost.”

He added that conducting a review of the SA Senate’s finance committee will make sure student organizations don’t lose funding unnecessarily. Wood said he came up with the idea to launch the review after hearing complaints from students.

Some student organizations, including GW College Democrats and the Organization of Latino American Students saw significant drops in their SA funding last spring after organization leaders improperly filled out paperwork.

“It is important primarily to ensure that all 500 student orgs on campus are properly being provided the resources and support needed to thrive as an successful organization,” said Wood. “It is also key in ensuring that no bias factors, intentionally or intentionally, from anyone on the finance committee is affecting the funding of student organizations.”