SG Leaders Look Back on First Semester
Staff Reporter Ethan Vaughan

Student Body President Drew Shelnutt and Vice President Ijeoma Nwatu expressed satisfaction with the way their organization has managed itself and conducted student affairs during the first half of the 2007-2008 school year.

“I think things have gone really well, overall,” Shelnutt said.

He continued by saying, “I think we’ve built one of the most cohesive student governments in a long time. All three branches work together really well, which, at least in my time here, I don’t think I’ve seen.”

The 2006-2007 academic year was marked by a deeply confrontational relationship between President Aseel al Mudallal and the Student Senate, eventually resulting in al Mudallal’s impeachment trial by the Senate, where she was found not guilty. In the 2007 election, it was seen as crucial for the president to be able to work cooperatively with the Senate.

Shelnutt says that his administration has achieved that goal and believes that it has allowed for greater successes than before. In particular he praises student presence on key university committees, such as the Auxiliary Enterprise Management Council and Search Committee for New Vice President of University Services as one of Student Government’s proudest accomplishments.

Before, pupils had only sat on boards relating to things like programming, student activities, Homecoming and De-Stress Fest, “committees that are really important, but not in creating and shaping what George Mason University is going to become,” Shelnutt said.

Now he says, students have a voice in resolving more high-stakes issues.

The AEMC, a body whose jurisdiction is highly expansive, gives funding recommendations to the university for all “auxiliary things,” which includes housing, the bookstore and all athletics teams.

The Search Committee, on which Shelnutt, Nwatu and Senator Nicole Kukuruda all sit, will make its selection for Vice President of University Services by the end of the year. The Student Government representatives will have an active role in the crucial school decision.

Shelnutt praises the perseverance of certain Mason attendees in insisting on involvement in areas that previously have seen little or no student influence.

“The great thing about people in Student Government is that they won’t be marginalized,” Shelnutt said. “They’ll make sure their voices are heard.”

Both Shelnutt and Nwatu believe that the Witch Watch was the most laudable, of any single event held. 

“I am really proud of our expansion of Witch Watch into the City of Fairfax,” Nwatu said.
Witch Watch, a program where Mason students take to the streets to ensure a safe Halloween for young trick-or-treaters, had previously been confined to the suburban neighborhoods immediately surrounding the school. This year marked the first time it had encompassed downtown Fairfax.

Nwatu points to her and Shelnutt’s campaign pledge to schedule weekend events as a promise kept.

On Friday, Aug. 31, Student Government collaborated with the Athletics Department to hold a pep rally and soccer game, which over 1,200 people attended, Nwatu said.

The Friday, Oct. 27 Alumni Appreciation game, whose concept was solely that of Student Government, attracted in excess of 1,000 people; while the Friday, Nov. 9 Gold Rush effort to commemorate the start of the basketball season was widely perceived as a success.

Nwatu was also happy with the 572 celebration, SGA’s celebration of Mason’s history, held the day of Admissions open house, which she says “was a great way to get people interested…in how we came to be.”

Nwatu says that a main focus of the coming semester will be to improve wireless Internet service in the Johnson Center, which she said is currently “really unreliable, really uncertain, very unpredictable.”

Student Government has been in the process of seeking an Undersecretary of Information Technology since the start of the school year.