Get to Know the Whitman Student Government

The Whitman Student Government (WSG) is a student-run organization working to strengthen the Whitman community and enhance the Whitman experience by improving important aspects of student life through various initiatives.

The WSG consists of an executive board and class representatives. Each executive board member acts as a representative of the Whitman student body. In addition, executive board members assist in academic integrity cases, work to allocate student organization budgets and lead a committee in their respective fields to help design Whitman community events.

The current executive board members are:

• Kanique Swinson, president
• Gabrielle Golan, vice president of finance
• Dylan Weinberger, vice president of programming
• Jenna Kaufman, vice president of administration
• Jack Ayer, vice president of judicial affairs

Senior representatives include Byron Delarosa and Louis Leung. Junior representatives, include Guadalupe Chino, Maria Baires, Aja Watkins and Lauren Knafo. Noah Glanville, Tyler Rossi, Racel Strausman and Kristen Unangst are sophomore representatives. Roy Tin, Zach Regenstein, Erin Gallagher and Julia Weisman act as freshman representatives.

This semester the WSG is focusing on five initiatives to help improve student life at Whitman.

WhitWeek – Led by Ayer, WhitWeek is a week of events leading up to WhitFest, a celebration of community that brings Whitman students, faculty and staff to the Flaum Grand Hall for food, fun activities and chances to win prizes. Weinberger is planning WhitFest as part of his vice president of programming role and he has a committee assisting him.

Student Social Media Engagement – Led by Delarosa, this initiative encourages student engagement with Whitman’s social media networks. In conjunction with Whitman’s marketing department, the WSG has come up with innovative ways encourage students to interact with Whitman on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Revamping Flaum Grand Hall – Led by Swinson, this initiative is dedicated to finding new acquisitions to remodel Flaum Grand Hall to give the location a new vibe that students will enjoy.

Whitman Student Government Monthly Newsletter – Led by Golan, the WSG has planned a monthly newsletter to highlight Whitman organizations, provide updates on the progress of WSG initiatives and spotlight students for individual achievement and performance. Be on the lookout next semester.

Whitman Learning Center Study Groups – Led by Kaufman, this initiative looks to form study groups for big section Whitman classes, such as SOM122, “The Core,” and other required classes. Kaufman and her committee have been in contact with the Honors Business Society, Beta Gamma Sigma, to develop a system to create these study groups, which will not only help students prosper in these classes but offer networking and discussion opportunities for Whitman students.

The government meets weekly to ensure that they are continually making progress on their initiatives. Each semester, the government hosts “Town Hall” meetings where they open up an hour block for questions, suggestions or concerns from the general Whitman community.

For more information, visit Whitman Student Government.