New Campaign Slogan: Now, with 10% Less Drama!

I figured we would lighten up the tone with our "get out the vote" campaign flyer. Ray Johnson outdid himself with this one and I love it. The campaign has been an amazing, wonderful learning experience and chance to get out and have excellent conversations with so many in the student body. I look forward to the debates tomorrow and the voting results Wednesday the 23rd!

Evidence: the Key to Great Advocacy

We are nearly to the election debates! With the vote on Wednesday we will be finished with the entire election itself. As campaign goes by I have gotten some great questions from students about my platform around Financial Aid, Housing and Academics.

My ideas boil down to this: with solid evidence backing any and all of our ideas we will have the basis upon which to advocate for real change. Rock-solid evidence about the General Studies financial aid system, the University housing system and academics will be what gives us a chance to argue for change at the higher levels of the university. As student body president my role will be to ensure that evidence is being collected to make great arguments AND that when those arguments are ready, the political path has been laid to the appropriate university leadership to which we will present the argument.

As president I will identify where the ideas of students in General Studies coincide with those of the administration - or do not. I will work to make the administration aware of student initiatives as they coalesce over time. The administration does not like to be surprised, evidence to this effect is overwhelming. On the contrary the administration prefers a partnership with the council on issues as they come from the student body. Fundamentally the university is a complicated political system.

Often the Dean of Students office benefits when the student body offers assistance to it through student messages to the university administration. I will strive to identify those opportunities. In the end with the goal of forming a partnership, where the student body and council gains a track-record of working productively with the Dean of Students and other areas of the university administration. However, the basis of all this is a never-ending focus on identifying critical questions and answers behind the issues.

To obtain the critical questions about Financial Aid, Housing and Academics (etc) I will work personally with both the council and the student body. This is something that has already been happening, with some success, but not in an organized, systematic, measurable or public way. The student body demands clarity and solutions to a number of issues, my systematic approach to finding evidence for change and then working the Columbia University political machinery is the way to bring about the results General Studies deserves.

Passover

Last night I was invited to join the Passover celebration of a friend of mine in General Studies. As a person who has only been in New York City since 2004, it was very touching to be welcomed into such a special event as this and I felt very at home. It was wonderful to be included in an event that has such power to rejuvenate and focus the mind beyond the day to day challenges toward the larger issues we face as a community.

It was also ideal at this late date in the academic year and in the campaign for student body president. Being in the company of people with which I could share my enthusiasm and ideas for both school and the larger world was exactly what I needed. Some nights it is best to study in Butler, but last night the best possible thing for me was to be among friends celebrating the Passover and the related intellectual questions we could ponder together.

Great Weather for Campaigning

What wonderful weather! It is amazing outside and it is wonderful to see so many students out on the Low steps and elsewhere enjoying themselves. This winter was rather long, so being able to chat with students about the election and my platform ideas out of doors is a very refreshing change. Look for me in my "Brody Berg for GS Student Body President" t-shirt :-)

Also, in the next few days I will be publishing details about my platform relating to the hot topics of Financial Aid, Housing and Academic issues. Stay tuned!

Debate & Election Delayed!

With no explanation the candidate debate and election was delayed today. I was actually on my way home to change when I began getting emails, calls and texts from friends about it. This is totally amazing. Totally amazing that we've gotten this far only to have something come up. I wonder what is happening. There hasn't been official word yet.

I believe the entire Columbia University community wants General Studies to bounce back from this difficult year. This one week delay literally and figuratively pushes back that healing process. Whenever debates finally do happen, I look forward to sharing my message, and demonstrating how my results this year prepares me perfectly for bringing us toward the healing our community needs.

This delay has an important impact on the student body: we draw ever closer to the day when the four undergraduate colleges meet to discuss our council finances for next year. Whoever is elected will need as much time as possible in order to benefit the student body the most. No matter how you slice it, the judicial committee reduced the amount of time elected council members will have. The judicial committee has already delayed the election, they should consider further impact on the student body before potentially making a rule change this late in the game as well.

Endorsed by The Columbia Spectator!

Today I was endorsed by The Columbia Spectator! They agree that my experience and integrity will produce the results the General Studies student body needs next year:

Vote Berg

By Editorial Board

PUBLISHED APRIL 14, 2008

The General Studies Student Council's elections, which will be held on Thursday, April 17, have assumed special significance in the wake of former GSSC President Niko Cunningham's drama-filled impeachment and removal from office. The need for accountability has joined insufficient financial aid and inadequate housing options as a major challenge facing the council. Though each of the four candidates running for student body president brings unique strengths to the table, we believe that Brody Berg is best positioned to deliver what GS needs.

Read more...

CQA Endorsement Text

Here is the section of the Columbia Queer Alliance endorsing me, thanks CQA!

For GSSC PRESIDENT

CQA endorses Brody Berg for GSSC President. In his position as vice resident of communications for GSSC, he has cultivated essential relationships with University-wide administrators, student groups, as well as with his counterparts in other student councils. Brody is always eager and receptive about involving GS students in CQA programming and we are especially impressed by his work in building the GSLounge.com website. We are very confident that in his position as GSSC president, Brody will continue the hard work of strengthening the bonds of Columbia's non-traditional undergraduates--a task that is needed now more than ever, and that he will foreground the unique issues faced by queer students in GS, as well as at Columbia at-large.

I Pledge to NOT use Spam Email to campaign

Email spam: an unfortunate fact of this semester. As a Computer Science major I can easily write software that will dredge up EVERY email address in General Studies and then use them for my campaign. But I refuse. My respect for the intelligence and time of General Studies students is too high. I also respect my fellow candidates too much to take this road. Every message you get about me will be from a person you know, a Facebook message from me or a friend etc. In other words I promise I will not use spam to campaign.

My campaign is about leading General Studies with respect, integrity, and professionalism. Spam email has no part in that. I welcome you to join me by voting for me and challenging the candidates to also not send spam emails.

If you are a candidate I welcome you to join me in my fight against disrespectful and wasteful spam email use. If you are a candidate using an email list ask yourself the honest question: did the General Studies students on that list, whom you hope to represent, give their express consent to being sent your campaign messages? If not, respect them by not spamming them. Let's be the change we want to see!

Endorsement! Columbia Queer Alliance

The Columbia Queer Alliance today gave me their endorsement! As a person who has been involved in the struggle for gay rights and worked this year to get the CQA agenda out to GSers this is a great moment. It is also an important moment that symbolizes how the various parts of the General Studies community can work together and work for change.

My involvement with gay rights began during my employment at Microsoft. I was a member of the Gay and Lesbian Employees at Microsoft group during my six year tenure. This year I made a point of ensuring CQA information went out to the student body in the Weekly Update emails and were featured on the University-wide calendar.

I look forward to doing more work on behalf of CQA for the benefit of all General Studies students.

Campaigning t-shirt

Here is a shot of my awesome campaign t-shirt made by my sister Alyssa. When I was preparing for the campaign I knew that no one would be able to make a better t-shirt than her. She lives in Seattle, where I am from. When she mailed it to me I knew that my campaign had officially begun. Thanks for the amazing shirt Alyssa :-)

The photo was taken by Alexander Lee, thanks Alex!

Campaign Flyer!

Thanks to Ray Johnson I now have a campaign flyer! Check it out.

Student Life: Fun, Useful

That's me (in the green coat) with Karly Curcio (white coat) on her Secret Spots tour. It was an amazing tour that showed new and experienced students new ways to access the many wonderful, useful and hidden features of the Morningside campus. In short, it was both fun and useful.

This is just one of the many events of the same calibre that Junior Class President Karly Curcio has put together this year. Her emphasis on that magic nexus between fun and useful is the secret to her success. It also speaks to exactly where I want to take Student Life programming in 2008-2009 as student body president.

This year I worked with a student (whose name must remain unknown due to campaign rules) to put office supplies in the GS Lounge during finals period fall semester. Staplers are in constantly short supply in the lounge, and with term papers due they were a tremendous blessing. My goal is to combine useful and fun events like Karly's with providing resources that make the daily life of students less stressful.

The bottom line is that not every event needs to be a party, not every event needs to be on Thursday night and the food at every event need not be pizza. Karly has shown that students will eagerly attend events that help them understand Columbia, the job market or how to get an internship better - all while eating something delicious.

Great work Karly!

For more about Karly's work this year see the Juniors website: http://gslounge.com/juniors

Meeting with Dean Awn

Yesterday I had an excellent and productive meeting with Dean Awn. We discussed how change happens at Columbia University. What I liked best about the discussion is that we talked about many approaches to making change happen: diplomacy, going through channels in the administration, getting a seat at the table, going to the right meetings at the right time with the right information - and also good ole' student activism. Dean Awn appreciates the benefits that all these approaches can bring.

The key, he points out, is to get all of the approaches right. Knowing when to send that message calling for a meeting with the Provost takes time. Knowing how to facilitate a meeting with the President takes a fine understanding of the Columbia Administration in context to the problem you are presenting. Even these skills presuppose the most difficult challenge.

The number one challenge when navigating the heights of the administration is to present a critique that is well founded in facts, logic, experience and reality. Contact with administrators is built on trust. If a student leader calls for a meeting based with the right people on a situation that is well defined and presents information that is accurate and persuasive, Dean Awn says administrators will respond.

So that would be my challenge as student body president - to work with students on the council and in the student body that can put together that persuasive argument, with that rock-solid data while I negotiate the administration to figure out who to speak with and when in order to have our case heard in the most effective manner. Already I have three strong factors in my
favor. The first is that I have already begun learning about the Administration from Dean Awn. The second is that I've gained tremendous experience with council/student/administration collaboration with the gslounge.com and University-wide Calendar projects. Third, I know that students and administrators have been waiting to make great arguments for change all year and are ready to do that now more than ever.

First however, I need your support in this election and your vote on April 17th! I can't wait to apply my skills and background to benefit General Studies at large.

Building GSLounge.com - 60,000 hits and counting!

This year as VP of Communication I built the GSLounge.com website from scratch. Students were concerned about the previous version so I gathered feedback from students, council members, and administrators about what they were looking for. The number one thing requested was timely, relevant, accurate information they could use to improve their daily lives at Columbia.

That focus on timely, relevant, accurate information has never let up. That focus is what brings us the results the website enjoys today. With blogs, images, polls, home pages for a lot of different parts of the council and the university-wide calendar we have seen a new era in how the General Studies community interacts with itself.

This success also clearly explains how we just passed the 60,000 hit mark. It explains why when news breaks about the GSSC students turn to gslounge.com. It explains why when students want to reach out to the GS community they start blogging. This ability to play such an active role in the community is based on the excellent teamwork and collaboration I had with the Communication committee - my partners there, Nicolle Rountree, Jessica Crenshaw, Ash Shahsavari and others were absolutely essential in making the site what it is today.

As president I will continue to use my leadership and teamwork skills on projects like improving the transparency behind the Financial Aid situation, and delivering Housing to those of us who still need it. People on the council love to work hard for real results. I make that happen by empowering them with objectives, information and the tools to get that job done. GSLounge.com shows what can happen when council members get the job done. I am excited about making that happen as student body president.

Facebook Group up and running!

Alright the Brody Berg for Student Body President Facebook Group is up and running!

The group is a great way to get involved in the campaign, ask questions, post comments, volunteer etc. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

The Campaign has Started, Excellent!

I am very excited about moving the GSSC out of this year and on to the next. We have a lot of work to do and I am ready for it. This year, working on the gslounge.com website and the university-wide calendar has brought me into contact with so many great people. I am ready to bring the lessons I learned and relationships I've formed to bear on the large, difficult and challenging problems that face all of us here in General Studies - Financial Aid, Housing and Academic issues.

Right now I am creating my Facebook group, so I'll update this in a little bit, more later!

Biographical Statement

This is the biographical statement I sent to the student body about my candidacy. The keys are that I'll use the experience I gained this year on projects like gslounge.com and the university-wide calendar to bring benefits to the students in the form of financial aid, housing and academics.

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Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of General Studies,

I, Brody Berg, wish to serve as your student body president. I am currently Vice President of Communication for the General Studies Student Council (GSSC). I have attended the School of General Studies since 2005 and have been actively involved in the GSSC since January 2007. Before attending the School of General Studies, I worked at Microsoft for six years and traveled extensively around the world. My experiences both inside and outside of General Studies have shaped my leadership skills and have prepared me to successfully serve my fellow students.

I, Brody Berg, am all about results. Working this year on the student council as VP of Communication not only left me incredibly fulfilled, it also resulted in unprecedented achievments for the student body, alumni, prospective students, and parents. You may have received my weekly email – the GSSC Weekly Update (http://gslounge.com/gssc/ updates). You may also have been one of the 21,000 unique visitors to gslounge.com who read through the nearly 15 sections of the site, including the Finance page and the Policy page. Or you might have read any of the 400+ pages of student created content. Clearly, the website successfully brought GS students together and gave them a voice, but the Communication Committee is more than just gslounge.com. We also created the successful University-wide calendar (http://gslounge.com/calendar). Now, for the first time, students can see events from student clubs, the registrar, student governments and institutions (Miller Theatre!) all in one place. The calendar changes the way students get their event information, so much so that both Barnard College Student Government, and Columbia College Student Council use it now as well.

I, Brody Berg, wish to lead General Studies in a new direction. Using my ability to collaborate with council members, students and administration I wish to achieve two reasonable goals. (1) I wish to bring integrity back to the GSSC presidency, and to the GSSC at large. Students are acutely aware that GSSC has recently faced financial troubles, questions about spending for orientation, a steady drum-beat of departing council members, and a controversial financial aid survey that was part of a belated response to the Columbia University financial aid announcement. This must end. I will apply the team work and delegation skills I used this year to ensure that such problems will not reemerge. The bottom line: I am going to put professionalism back in the GSSC where it belongs. (2) I wish to work with the student council on Financial Aid, Housing, and Academic issues. Before there is success on these fronts we need something simple: A seat at the table. I will make that happen. I know how to communicate, negotiate and delegate. I am also proud to say I have great working relationships with administrators. With a seat at the table and a true leader as the student body president, the GSSC will again be a shining example of what makes General Studies such an amazing, dynamic, and energizing school.

I, Brody Berg, look forward to your vote April 17th and to serving you as student body president.