Why should students choose you for President?

JS: “I have been heavily involved in student government at GW since I was a 1L. While running to be a 1L Senator, I campaigned on getting students access to free coffee. After being elected, I made good on my promise. I brought in a coffee machine and worked with Ms. Bobby and SBA to get school-provided coffee pods, and also maintained and cleaned the coffee machine. As a 2L, I was appointed to be the VP of Student Affairs, where I coordinated assigning lockers to around 800 students, guided all 50 student organizations through the new university-required registration process, and continue to provide free food to students through Untired Tuesday every other week. I have deep institutional knowledge about how SBA functions, as well as experience leading big projects and delivering real results that improve student lives.”

What is the No. Issue students are facing and how will you address it?

JS: “The reason students attend law school is to find a job. That is every student’s #1 priority. Last year, many students pursuing BigLaw were disappointed in the Career Center’s guidance on firm hiring timelines. Additionally, many public interest students feel that the Career Center does not adequately respond to their complaints. Because career guidance is so essential to students, as president I will work with the Career Center to ensure they are responding adequately to student needs. As president, I would hold the Career Center accountable to pre-recruitment timelines by ensuring that students receive timely and accurate updates on key deadlines. As a public interest student, I would also push for better career support for public interest students by urging the Career Center to provide specialized advising, clearer job search strategies, and stronger employer connections for those pursuing government and nonprofit careers.”

How do you plan on bettering our standing with the administration and the school as a whole?

JS: “If elected president, I would seek to create a working friendship with the Dean of Student’s office to establish a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship between the administration and SBA. I hope to work with the Dean of Student’s office to respond to student needs, but sometimes the priorities of students don’t match up with the priorities of the administration. In those circumstances, I will always put students first and devote myself to being an advocate for student needs.”

How will you better serve J.D. students?

JS: “I have plans to improve SBA transparency, advocate for better career services for students, respond to the unique needs of minority students, and improve campus facilities. SBA must start holding it’s own fundraisers, as well as being fully transparent about all SBA operations so that student leaders are held accountable. I cannot include all of my plans for JD students in this short questionnaire, but please read my campaign literature to learn more about what I hope to achieve as president.”

How will you better serve evening students?

JS: “Evening students are often our busiest students, as they are working full-time and attending law school. To respond to this, I believe evening students need maximum flexibility from the school. SBA must push the school to provide more flexible academic support for evening students. SBA can also hold later events to work with the evening student schedule so that they can still feel included in campus events.”

How will you better serve LL.M and S.J.D. students?J

JS: “LLM and SJD students often get left behind by the SBA. I know many LLMs often struggle to find adequate housing because they are moving here from different countries and don’t have a credit report or cosigner. The university must prioritize this issue and create relationships with local landlords to vouch for these students and ensure they have adequate housing. Beyond that, I plan to make sure LLMs feel more included in campus activity and push the school to provide them more academic support.”

What do you plan to do regarding the Public Interest Journal?

JS: “As the only candidate in the race pursuing a public interest career, this issue is very important to me. I know both professors who chair the journal committees – Prof. Schaeffner, the chair of the Journal Advisory Committee, and Prof. Tuttle, the chair of the Curriculum Committee. I hope to leverage those relationships to put pressure on the journal committee finally hold a vote to establish a Public Interest journal.”

What should and should not change going into next year for the following roles SBA plays?

Advocacy.

JS: “The SBA president has primarily two roles: the student facing role, in which the president leads the student government, and the administration facing role, in which the president advocates on behalf of the students to the school administration. The advocacy side of the president’s role is underemphasized, but is an immensely important part of being SBA president. I believe one of the most important duties of the SBA president is to be the voice of the students and represent student interests to the administration. In that vein, if elected president I would ensure I was always strenuously advocating for student interests to the university. It is important that the SBA always fight for what is best for students.”

Finances.

JS: “The SBA must be transparent with our budget process. I plan to hold office hours with my VP of Finance so that students can have a forum to voice their concerns directly to the SBA. Additionally, SBA must do it’s own fundraising, just like all other student orgs. Lastly, if elected I plan to conduct an in-depth review of the SBA budget with an eye towards cutting redundancies.”

Programming.

JS: “The budget crisis this year taught us that SBA can still put together great events with less money. Although we have a much smaller budget this year, Lawloween was just as successful as last year’s Lawloween. It is important that SBA provide fun and affordable events for students while being financially savvy. As president, I would ensure that SBA Programming designs enjoyable events for students while sticking to a lower budget. This is a very attainable goal.”

Umbrella Organization for GW Law Student Organizations.

JS: “This past semester, the school started the process of decoupling student organizations from the SBA. I spearheaded that effort as VP of Student Affairs. Continuing that decoupling opens up more funding opportunities for student orgs as they may be able to get money directly from the university, so I plan to continue that plan.”

What is your opinion on the current SBA administration?

JS: “The current administration has done some things right and some things wrong. This administration has been much more transparent than past SBA administrations. I hope to continue to expand on that transparency as president. However, the budget crisis in the fall left many student organizations feeling blindsided and betrayed by SBA. As president, I would ensure maximum transparency with student organizations and would clean up the SBA budget to ensure student organizations get treated fairly.”

Rate your agreement with the following statements:

Question	Response
SBA should have to fundraise itself.	Strongly Agree
The R fund and C fund distinction should be abolished.	Disagree
The Career Center is doing a good job.	Disagree
The Dean of Students office is doing a good job.	Disagree
The Finance office is doing a good job.	Disagree
The GW Law administration communicates clearly.	Disagree
The SBA Executive Branch is too big.	Agree
The SBA should constitutionally reorganize as a one-branch institution.	Strongly Disagree
The SBA operates effectively right now.	Agree
Barrister’s Ball is the most important thing SBA does.	Agree
Students should know what goes on in Faculty meetings.	Strongly Agree
The Nota Bene is an important institution at GW Law.	Strongly Agree