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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

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PAUL closes in Western Market
By Ella Mitchell, Staff Writer • April 22, 2024

President: Brandon Hill

Junior+and+SA+President+Brandon+Hill%2C+if+reelected%2C+would+be+the+second-ever+holder+of+the+office+to+win+reelection.
Gabrielle Rhoads | Staff Photographer
Junior and SA President Brandon Hill, if reelected, would be the second-ever holder of the office to win reelection.

Year: Junior
Hometown: Waldorf, Maryland
Major: Political Communication and Human Services and Social Justice
Student organizations/activities: Delta Lambda Phi Fraternity, WRGW District Radio
SA experience: SA president, SA executive vice president, member of the student engagement committee and government affairs, CCAS undergraduate senator, member of the SA finance committee, vice chair of the governance and nominations committee, member of the Colonial Monicker Task Force and the Constitutional Convention, chair of the Black Senators Caucus
Favorite quarantine activity: Mindlessly scrolling through TikTok
First place you will go after the pandemic is no longer a concern: Back to campus
Show you are currently binge-watching: “Scandal”
Favorite restaurant in the District: Jerk at Night
Favorite outdoor activity: Going to the monuments
Favorite place in the world: Mount Vernon Campus
Role model: Michelle Obama
Proudest GW moment: Being elected to a CCAS senator position his freshman year
Something you cannot live without: Chicken tenders
What would your walk-up song be: Any song by Nicki Minaj

Brandon Hill wants to be held accountable.

Hill, who announced his bid for the Student Association’s top spot in February and currently serves in the role, said he recognizes that at times it seems that the SA is working against the student body. But in the SA’s “roots and intentions,” the institution exists to support students, he said.

“I look forward to the opportunity to be held accountable and to represent the students,” Hill said.

Hill is running on a platform of more than 15 initiatives to improve student inclusivity in SA governance and internal operations and increase course affordability for students. He said he believes the SA needs a “major culture change” to encourage the senate to take their work seriously but not take themselves too seriously.

Hill said his prior experience in the SA is an asset to his candidacy, especially because he served during the initial transition period to remote learning at the start of the pandemic.

He served as SA executive vice president until February, when he assumed the presidency amid former SA Howard Brookins’ resignation from the role.

“There’s only been one SA president who’s ever been elected for a second term,” Hill said. “So providing students with that sense of comfortability that I will be here for another year, that I can be here for another year to support their issues and continue on the projects that I’m doing, is super essential, because I think I have a proven track record of getting things done.”

If elected, Hill said he will create a “robust” SA cabinet including more than 40 members – more than double his current cabinet – to represent as many students as possible in the SA. He said he will also work to transition the body’s bylaws to align with the SA’s updated constitution that will go into effect with the new term.

Hill said he found his own community at GW and believes that the SA is a place where students of all backgrounds can come together, relate with one another and find common ground.

“I have never found another place on campus where students of color, students of multiple religious backgrounds and also students in computer science and the Corcoran School [of the Arts and Design] have all been able to come together and find a common ground or relate on similar issues or experiences,” Hill said. “Being able to have those impactful discussions of intersectionality have been super helpful in assisting in University advocacy.”

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