Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Musgrave Nabs SAC Chair

Student Activities Commission Marketing and Public Relations Director Patrick Musgrave (COL ’16) was elected SAC Chair by a 14-vote margin Thursday.
Musgrave was elected in a second round of voting after an inconclusive first round, in which some groups voting more than once, forced the Georgetown University Student Association Election Commission to hold a second race.
Forty-six SAC group presidents voted for Musgrave, and 32 voted for two-semester SAC Commissioner and New Club Development Coordinator Eng Gin Moe (SFS ’16).
“The whole idea of campus-wide SAC elections like we did this year is a very new one–it’s only a couple years old–so we’ll work with the SAC chair next year and think about ways we can ensure this doesn’t happen again,” GUSA Election Commissioner and designated SAC election commissioner Ethan Chess (COL ’14) said. “I think, all in all, it was a good learning opportunity in terms of seeing some of the things that can happen, and how to also fix them.”
Musgrave, who is a former staff writer for The Hoya, said he hopes to reduce the organizational difficulties and redundancies that student groups face in reserving campus space, approving events and budgeting.
“What I don’t want SAC to be looked at is as this police force that goes around and makes sure that every single group is following this minutiae, so I’m thinking more big picture. We make it easier for groups to be groups and give them the tools that they need to run a successful organization,” Musgrave said.
In order for student groups to organize events, they need to request funds from the university. The students then pay it back to the university for the cost of renting spaces.
“It’s money going in a circle,” Musgrave said. “What we would try to do is give the Office of Campus Activity Facilities money in the beginning, and then in exchange for that, any group can use it for free.”
Musgrave also aims to reduce the difficulties in getting speakers from outside Georgetown approved. SAC commissioners currently have to approve non-Georgetown speakers, which Musgrave thinks is an unnecessary burden.
Musgrave’s challenger, Moe, supported Musgrave’s ideas for reform. Moe’s platform focused on building connections between SAC commissioners and groups.
“I think that all those things, they’ve been hard to fix now because they require a lot of coordination among different groups, so if he can get the ball rolling on that and making sure he contacts all those people and has great dialogue with them, I think it’s feasible,” Moe said.
This race was the group’s second-ever contested election.
“I feel that Patrick and I definitely learned from each other’s campaigns, and hopefully he’ll take some of my ideas under his chairmanship,” Moe said.
Before Musgrave takes over as chair in 2014, he will shadow current SAC Chair Jennifer Chiang (SFS ’15) for the next month and a half.
Moving forward, Musgrave is excited to work with student groups and the Georgetown community at large to streamline existing processes.
“I want to make SAC a resource for student groups to put on great events to improve their communities,” Musgrave said. “We have a lot of great communities here at Georgetown, and all of those communities can collectively make the campus community better.” 

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