Gabe Schechter ’12 – President
compiled by Courtney Hemker
Major: Mathematics, Economics
Contact Information: [sgaprez] / Office Hours: Tues. & Thurs., 4-6 p.m.
Hometown: South Orange, NJ
Other activities on campus: Social Entrepreneurs of Grinnell, it’s a micro-finance group on campus. And it’s really awesome, because we now are an official non-profit organization.
Favorite Spot on Campus: Top of Loose Loggia
Why did you choose Grinnell? My dad, a Grinnell alum, bet me that I couldn’t get in. But I did, and somehow I came out to this cold, barren land. But it’s a bunch of fun and the people here are the best.
What do you want the student body to know about your job/SGA in general? You can come ask me any question, find me any time. I happen to live in the JRC, which means that I’m accessible at most points of the day.
What is SGA’s most important function? Our function is to serve you. It’s what we do.
How can students get involved in what you do? If you’re a first year, email [fyc] and get involved in First-Year Council. Not a first-year? Then email [sga1] or come to the office, and we can work on what your interests are and what you can get involved in.
What do you want to accomplish this year? Laser tag.
Wadzi Motsi ’12 – V.P. of Academic Affairs
compiled by Carolin Scholz
Major: International Relations (Independent major)
Contact Information: [vpaa] / Office Hours: Mon. 7-9 p.m., Fri. 1-4 p.m.
Home Country: Zimbabwe
Favorite Spot on Campus: Herrick Chapel
What is the worst movie you’ve ever seen? That one movie with Brad Pitt that everyone loves that I don’t understand … Burn After Reading, that movie is stupid as hell.
What does your job entail? My job is pretty much just going to meetings, a lot of them. And then working with SEPCs [Student Educational Policy Committees], of course, and then with the Dean’s Office on student academic policies.
What do you want to accomplish this year? My concrete project is the experiential learning one: [seeing] ways how this fits into different departments, depending on what classes are being taught, what works and what doesn’t. So that’s definitely one of my goals.
Chris Dorman ’12 – V.P. of Student Affairs
compiled by Laura Dripps
Major: Political Science, Policy Studies Concentration
Contact Information: [vpsa] / Office Hours: Wed. & Thu. 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Hometown: Albert Lea, MN
Favorite Spot on Campus: Spencer Grill or swimming pool
How do you serve the campus? My main job is to be there to help support students when anything comes up. … My role is focused on how can I take the problems that are happening this year and fix them so that they’re not happening this year. You know, if I make long-term changes, that’s great, but my focus is [on] fixing things now and hoping that […] they stay fixed.
What do you want to accomplish this year? My big goal and the buzzword that I’ve been talking with people about it is unity. I want to try as hard as possible to figure out ways to […] start breaking down a lot of the stark differences between North campus and South campus and East campus.
If you had a million dollars to spend in your position, what would you buy? Well, it’s not enough to build it, but I want a better Harris, I think. I think Harris is ugly.
Kathy Andersen ’13 – Treasurer
compiled by Nathan Forman
Major: French (Intended), Global Development Studies Concentration
Contact Information: [sgamoney] / Office Hours: Sat. 2-3 p.m., Mon., Tue. & Thu. 8-9 p.m.
Home: A farm northwest of Omaha, NE
What do you do as treasurer? We have the day to day processing of money through the system, which includes when people submit budgets for groups and events.
What’s the SGA dynamic like? This cabinet is going to be amazing. We have a group of people that are really motivated, really driven. … Everyone just bonded quickly. There are no conflicts I can see arising, it’s a good dynamic.
Where do you want to study abroad? Either Marseilles, Senegal, or Madagascar. They all have their strong points.
Raghav Malik ’13 – Asst. Treasurer
compiled by Carl Sessions
Major: Mathematics, Physics (Intended)
Contact Information: [sga2] / Office Hours: Mon.-Thu. 8-9 p.m.
Places Lived: New Delhi, Bangkok, Miami
Favorite spot to study on campus: The math study area next to [Professor] Joseph Mileti’s office in Noyce. … There’s a whiteboard and there’s no service for my cell phone, which means I don’t have a constant distraction.
What are you going to work on this year? I want to find out how many distinct students SGA is reaching out to … with the goal of answering the question of if we’re truly reaching out to everyone. I expect that the numbers aren’t as high as we think.
Alex White ’12 – Administrative Coordinator
compiled by Courtney Hemker
Major: Economics
Contact Information: [sga1]
Office Hours: Mon. 6-8 p.m. & Thurs. 3-5 p.m.
Hometown: Salem, NH, and not the place that’s famous for the witches.
What does your job entail? I am sort of the de-facto office manager. … I oil everything to keep it running smoothly, and hopefully, if my job goes well, I just stay behind the scenes and get all that stuff done—and occasionally chime in with a comment here and there.
What are changes you plan to make for this year or things you plan to work on?
Personally, I want to make SGA’s website [sga.grinnell.edu] a lot better. I want to make sure people know it exists and that people use it as a resource.
What’s your favorite Harris party? I’m not a big fan of Harris. I prefer 10/10.
Do you have a hidden talent? I’m secretly a fan of karaoke. I also secretly like country music. It’s really hush-hush.
Austin Frerick ’12 – All-Campus Events (ACE) Coordinator
compiled by Roni Finkelstein
Major: Political Science, Policy Studies Concentration
Contact Information: [ace]
Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 4:30-7 p.m.
Hometown: Cedar Rapids, IA
What is your position? Basically, I’m given a nice fun pot of money to bring different events to put on during weekends and weekdays that I think will appeal to Grinnellians.
Favorite Harris party: There is a Harris yet to happen, called Country Thunder Harris. … My favorite joke at Grinnell is that the only people in the closet are either country [music] fans or Republicans. So many people here say they don’t like country music that you’re kind of shunned if you like it. … I want a hay barrel in Harris, that’s all I want.
On dancing: Being abroad for a year makes me appreciate the uniqueness that is Harris. It’s so incredibly safe on so many different levels; you’re in a safe environment, you know everybody and you’re with all your friends. No other college campus has something like this. … The notion that we … come together, I think that’s a very great thing that kind of intensifies the notion of being a Grinnellian; it’s a very unique identity.
Maria Higgs ’12 – Services Chair
compiled by Carl Sessions
Major: Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies
Contact Information: [service]
Office Hours: Tues. 2-4 p.m., Thurs. 7-9 p.m., Fri. 1-3 p.m.
Hometown: Houston, TX
What does your job entail? It involves three things: 1. Student groups. 2. Community service. 3. College-community relations. In particular, this year we are going to boost community service with the aid of the new Community Service Coordinator, Susan Sanning.
What changes do you plan to make this year? I’d like to redefine what it means to be the Services Coordinator by doing more that directly benefits the students. For example, I’m adding a student leader mentoring aspect to the Services Committee. Student groups have a hard time retaining institutional memory once the previous leaders graduate. Through the service committee, I hope to help train the next group of leaders at Grinnell who will then go on to train others themselves.
Favorite Spot on Campus: I like anywhere that has lots of windows and sunshine. I like Noyce for studying since it’s quiet, has hidden hot water makers, and lots of places where you can stash teabags and hot chocolate during the winter.
Anything else? I’m a genuinely nice person who’s easy to talk to. I love Grinnell and want to do anything I can to help others enjoy their time here as much as I have.
Pooj Padmaraj ’13 – Concerts Chair
compiled by Laura Dripps
Major: Religious Studies
Contact Information: [concerts]
Office Hours: Mon. 9-11 a.m., 8-9 p.m. & Wed. 9-10 a.m.
Hometown: Naperville, IL
What does your job entail? As Concerts Chair, I basically look through artists and music, what’s happening in the music world right now and try to bring artists to Grinnell. That goes from everything from doing a contract to booking the bands and making sure they’re alright once they come here. So that’s my whole job, everything in the whole realm of concerts.
What do you want to accomplish this year? Part of what I want to do is increase the connection between campus music and the music we bring to campus that’s nationally recognized, so that we can foster a music community. I’m doing that by having more student openers. … In the spring I want to do a small kind of [outdoors] festival.
If you had a million dollars to spend in your position, what would you buy? I would just bring Daft Punk.
Paul Dampier ’12 – Films Chair
compiled by Carolin Scholz
Major: Film Studies (Independent)
Contact Information: [films]
Office Hours: 4-5 p.m., basically every day
Hometown: I was born in Chicago but most of my life I lived in Champaign-Urbana, [IL].
What does your job entail? Basically, I lead the committee. … I not only pick the movies but also what I do is contact distributors, purchase screening rights [and] make sure we get copies of the films.
How can students get involved in what you do? Come to the [film committee] meeting at 7 p.m. on Sundays, because that is the most direct way of talking to me. We always welcome new faces and new ideas so any time people want to stop by, they are more than welcome to.
What’s the worst movie you’ve ever seen? Click. I was still at the age where I [should’ve liked] it, but it was too much.
-compiled by Carolin Scholz
