George Chapel is a senior political science major with a minor in economics and leadership. He’s from Parkersburg, West Virginia and we’re all proud to call him our new student body President. Think back to late February, you’re walking to class and the proud members of SGA just want a second of your time to explain why they should be elected. Think about all the time and effort they put in to get where they are. Well, George and his entire ticket had all their hard work pay off by winning the election!
Q: What was it that motivated you to want to run for SGA president?
A: Since freshman year I have been involved in SGA, always doing things in the community around Morgantown. What really hit home with me was the Baylor riots. The week following the riots we held a community service event called M.A.D day. So many people showed up because of the riots, it showed me that there are a lot of people who care about what happened and care about creating a good image for our University. If you care so much about your city why are you tearing it down, that’s what I didn’t understand. I was in a unique position to help with this culture change because of all the work I was already doing in the community. I also realized that if I didn’t run there wasn’t going to be a Greek president in the field. Greek life is important to me; I rushed SAE in the Fall of 2011. A lot has happened in Greek life recently as you know, I just want to make sure that future mountaineers have the same opportunities we all did.
Q: How much time and effort did you have to put in to get where you are with M.A.D?
A: A lot! The process started back in October, when we decided we wanted to run so we then planned our campaign. Christmas break we worked every single day to get things ready to go. When we got back to school we formed our ticket and it’s been non-stop work every single day since October. The last month or so we have been waking up at 6 am and working till midnight working towards this. It was a significant amount of work but it paid off and I hope the people who will run on SGA next year from my ticket will continue that hard work for the years to come!
Q: What was your first reaction when you found out M.A.D won the election?
A: I was in disbelief; surreal is the only word I can come up with. Everyone on our ticket got elected and it felt absolutely amazing that all the people we thought were the best for the job and that we wanted on our ticket got elected. It’s great to know that the people you worked so hard with the past couple months are the same people we’ll be working with from here on out.
Q: What does being the president of SGA mean to you?
A: It is a major honor; to be honest it hasn’t really sunk in yet. It’s overwhelming to think I represent 30,000 of my peers. As the president I feel that I represent everyone, I have to act in a way I want my school to be seen. I plan on reaching out to all the students at WVU and the people across WV. Our university is the flagship of the state; we want to refute the claims that people outside of our boarders say. There are so many different backgrounds and cultures; I hope I embody the values of all of our student body. What I think to myself all the time is, how would I want to be represented by another student body president, and that is how I plan on representing you all.
Q: What are your hopes for SGA?
A: For the rest of the year I want to reform SGA as an organization who actually represents the student body. I plan on building a better community from all sides in hopes to make this a better university. Finally, I hope to build the mentality that were all one in the same here.
Q: Do you think this opportunity will make a big impact on your life and how?
A: Yes it will, it is awesome networking and will look great on a resume but that is not important to me. The times were in in Morgantown; we’ve really never been like this before. There have been incidents that have been devastating but there have been multiple tragic events happening one after the other. We just want to make a difference and I hope I can make a large impact and if I can help the people at our university that’s all I need.