By Caroline Dehn, EIC Academics
Disclaimer: The GW Local does not endorse candidates, but rather gives them a platform to share their beliefs
Charles Aborisade is a junior at GW and the current Student Association Finance Chair. Along with being a member of the Student Association, Aborisade is a member of the GW chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and the Policy Director of GW College Democrats.Aborisade is running for Student Association emphasizing teamwork and making sure all GW students, undergraduates and graduates are represented.
As Student Finance Chair, Aborisade has seen how the pandemic has affected students first-hand. He explains that it is “crucial how we deal with financial issues” for both student organizations and individual students. This pandemic has been hard for many students financially and student organizations are also struggling to hold on to members as well as coming up with the funds needed to continue through the school year.
Aborisade said he is running on a four-point platform, focusing heavily on student costs, expanding student orgs, student learning, and mental health concerns. Not only is he focused on making school costs more affordable for students, he wants discussions to be inclusive, inviting student leaders representing as many organizations as possible.
The presidential candidate has outlined a specific plan to accomplish his goals for the Student Association. He coined the program AborisAID, a three-step plan to reconfigure and improve student engagement and advocacy.
- Co-curricular credit: through his current position in the Student Association, Aborisade has spoken with students who are planning and participating in projects that require lots of hard work and time. By introducing a co-curricular credit plan, students would be able to receive university credit for the work completed within their student organizations.
- Coalition Task Force: here is where the advocacy aspect really comes into play. The task force Aborisade proposed would allow both Student Association members and other student leaders to corroborate on issues that affect all students. He believes that both undergraduate and graduate students should be represented along with leaders from all kinds of student organizations. Aborisade calls this his “rainbow coalition,” making sure all students regardless of their experience are represented.
- Budgeting Reform: The last step in Aborisade’s plan would include budgeting reform of the current Student Association process. Currently the Student Association requires student organizations to request funds for one whole school year at a time, forcing them to “create budget requests for a year out.” Aborisade believes that creating a semester-based budget would help student organizations greatly and reduce errors.
Graduate and undergraduate students at GW are rarely talked about as a whole, but Aborisade believes that both sectors of the student body should have a real voice on campus. His Coalition Task Force would bring the graduate students on an equal playing field as “the majority of GW students are graduates.”
Like many GW students, Aborisade is currently taking his classes at home and he assures students that he truly “understands the student experience,” both through his work in the SA, but also from living the pandemic student experience.
For more information on Charles and his campaign visit @charles4pres on Instagram and Charles4Pres on Facebook.
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