Meet Tess Greenwald, our new USG President. She is fron Bedford, New York, which is about 45 minutes north of New York City. At DU, Tess studies English with a concentration in education.
If becoming the first female USG President DU has seen in a while is not impressive enough, Greenwald is actually starting graduate school at DU next fall at the Morgridge College of Education, even though it will technically be her senior year at DU.
Greenwald was not initially involved with USG. She decided to pursue becoming a junior senator after her decision to not go abroad her junior year. Tess thought she should utilize her extra time at DU to become more involved in the community. “Through my work in USG over the past year, I’ve learned to really love DU on a whole new level. I was able to understand the ins and outs of how the university worked and I just loved being involved,” Greenwald explained. She decided to run for President in order to “give back to an institution that has given [her] so much and has helped [her] learn so much.”
photo by Cam Welch Photography
Since not everyone has time to keep up with (or, if you’re like me, understand) politics, I asked Tess to give us a little summary of the main points of her platform:
- Chandler (the VP) and I are aiming to create a transparent DU. In other words, we think that students should be able to have opportunities at their fingertips. This means knowing who to contact, about what and how to contact them. If I have a question about why the library hours have changed, I should, as a student, be able to contact the right person with my questions and get some answers.
- We support activism. Ultimately, DU is an institution for the students and our voices are the most important voices. We support students being loud and making their voice heard. For example, DivestDU hosted a rally and marched into the library where the Board of Trustees was having a meeting to demand that they lead on climate change. Their voices were heard with upper admin. We want students to feel supported and encouraged to be activists within the DU community, in the Denver community, and even on a national level.
- Chandler and I agree that DU has potential to be one of the best institutions in the country. But, we need to fight the apathetic vibe amongst students. Administration, faculty, and staff need to support our students, and vice versa. We believe that this will create a more engaged, passionate DU student body. Whether it be taking steps towards eradicating sexual assault, or supporting a student on their journey to the White House for a student conference, when students are heard and supported, they feel important. We love DU, and we want you to love DU, too.
- With each of these components comes tangible aspects and steps that we are taking to create a better DU. If interested, check out our platform on our Facebook page! We have a lot more to offer. Greenwald Carlson 2016
Tess and Chandler really want every student to be involved and feel like their voices are heard! She said they both are willing sit down with students in order to hear out and help facilitate their dreams and aspirations for DU and hopefully put students in contact with the right people.
Greenwald also wants to encourage students to attend USG meetings in order to voice their opinions and concerns, or ask questions. These meetings are open to the student body, which many people do not know about! They are help every Tuesday from 6-8 in the special events room in the library.
After speaking with Tess, it is easy to see her passion for DU and her willingness to hear every students’ voice. Her email is tegreenwald@gmail.com if you want to reach out and introduce yourself or contact her with comments, questions or suggestions about DU. She is willing to answer, as her and Chandler’s platform is based on transparency!
Maybe the prez seems a little intimidating to reach out to, but I can assure she is just a regular student. Her go-to karaoke song is “White Houses” by Vanesa Carlton, her celeb crush (she hates to admit) is Zac Efron, and you can find her spending her weekends in the mountains.