This week we had the privilege of catching up with our new AS President, Katie Coutermarsh. Katie has just been elected and has many changes in mind for the upcoming year. Check out her interview with us and learn a little bit more about who she is, and what she plans to do here at USD.
Her Campus (HC): Where are you from?
Katie Coutermarsh (KC): I’m from San Jose, CA.
HC: What’s your favorite thing about USD?
KC: Ahhh this is hard. My first instinct is to say our location. But, if our school moved I would like it just as much because of the people here.
HC: You studied abroad, where did you study and what was your favorite place?
KC: I have been extremely lucky with studying abroad. Sophomore year I went to Florence through SYE (sophomore year experience) and took a marketing course. That summer, a group of USD students went to Ghana, Africa on a service/immersion trip. Then, junior year I spent first semester in Prague. Since the Czech Republic is fairly Central I was able to travel quite a bit around Europe; Poland, Ireland, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and England.
HC: You are our new president, what made you want to run?
KC: Over the past 3 years I developed a strong sense of pride from attending USD. I have been heavily involved in a couple different organizations and was able to see how great of a school we have. At the same time, I became aware that many people identify with their smaller organization rather than as an entire USD community. This disconnect creates a ton of great student organizations but furthers a lack of school spirit. Since my only complaint about USD was this missing school spirit—I set out to change it.
HC: Tell us a little bit about your plan.
KC: There are a couple of long-term goals that I will really emphasize to make sure there is progress within these realms. But they are the kind of initiatives that take a couple of years, because they are rooted in changing a culture and preconceived notions. The first is to develop a sense of pride associated with being a Torero. This touches all aspects of our campus but a huge part is definitely supporting Athletics. We have so much to be proud of and overall I believe students are happy here, but over the past years this has not been correlated to a greater since of USD spirit. And the second objective is to make sure that we have a student oriented campus, in which students have a platform to voice their opinions both vocally and visually on our campus.
HC: What are some of your hobbies?
KC: I have a new found affinity for beach games like smash ball and volleyball. Tim Van Tyle is really skeptical of the timing that I began playing beach games—he thinks I picked them up just in time for elections to seem sporty… but I promise I am not sporty. I think the timing was more centered around day light savings.
HC: What are your goals during your term as president?
KC: In addition to the long term objectives, I will work on tangible goals that I will hopefully be able see through their completion. In regards to domestic violence and sexual assault I would like to implement a “Love Doesn’t Hurt” campaign. It will be a week designated to raising awareness and creating a dialog amongst students of this prevalent issue. On a lighter note, I believe USD students need somewhere to go when Copley closes. I would like to designate a study space on campus for when Copley closes, but it is too early to close your book. And there are also a couple things that Dom started that I would like to carryout. These include his “Keep on the Grass” and a mission to place a statue on USD’s campus.
HC: Tell us some fun facts about yourself!
KC: I am the youngest of 4 kids and its kind of cool because we are all within 5 years of each other. I used to have a fainting problem, Google “fainting goats” and that was pretty much me in PE in elementary school. Whenever I would exert too much energy I would just faint. I am really good at impersonating Marcel the Shell—definitely my best quality. And I used to walk my rabbits on a leash around my neighborhood.
HC: What does being elected AS President here at USD mean to you?
KC: It means I have a tremendous opportunity ahead to influence the direction of our school. But ultimately, I am responsible for voicing the viewpoints of the students. That is the part I am most excited about. I really encourage anyone with suggestions or problems to contact me so we can start working on something together.