VP of Clubs & Organizations Caniddate

My name is Joshua Feng and I am running to be your next Vice President of Clubs & Organizations in the Undergraduate Student Government.

I am a junior majoring in Health Sciences on the Pre-Health track. I am an active member of the campus community; I am a Resident Assistant of Benedict Hall, a USG Senator, and a volunteer with the Student Blood Drive Committee.

As a current Senator for USG, I have honed into many skills that I would be able to carry over and do more good to impact the lives of all Stony Brook students. I have extensive knowledge of getting items passed, all of which will be done in a socially equitable way with feedback and insight of the clubs and organizations I would be representing. Some of my past successful initiatives included a Hot Cocoa Social with Student Engagement & Activities, a Toxic Masculinity Workshop with CPO, and a Positive Notes Initiative with empowering messages, and there are many more to come.

I have experienced the wide array of challenges that comes with being a Seawolf and I am looking to tackle the issues most prominent to campus life.

As your next VP of Clubs & Organizations, I will:

Empower Clubs and Organizations through:

★ Increasing BLS Training: Work closely with UPD/SBVAC to train at least one club/organization leader on the basics of CPR, BLS, Narcan, and AED use.

★ Transparency: Connect with every PBC and unfunded club or organization and provide all the necessary information and resources they may need to succeed and establish longevity.

★ Professional Development: Collaborate with the Career Center and clubs/orgs so that club interest are transferred into the future

★ End of the Year Showcase: Showcase all clubs and organizations’ achievements

★ Weekly Feature: Work with the VP of Communications to bring back weekly features of a club or organization highlights

★ Clubs and Organizations Banner Wall: Create a museum-like public display of all clubs and organizations’ custom banners

★ Clubs and Orgs Gala: Improve on recent years' Clubs and Orgs social

★ Clubs and Organizations Forum: Hold a forum with club and organization leaders and handle issues that are present within their respective clubs

Continue my ongoing personal initiatives, including:

★ Semesterly USG Blood Drive: collaborate with the student blood drive committee to have a blood drive every semester that will drive out more donations

★ Used Student Textbook Exchange Program: I will be setting up a donation bin where students can donate textbooks that they will no longer use to underclassmen. This will help to reduce the costs of textbooks and help with preventing usable textbooks from going to waste.

★ Student Thrift Shop: I will be continuing my efforts to create a permanent thrift shop on campus to promote sustainable fashion and reduce clothing waste.

★ Wolfie Swing Set: Install a swing set in the area between the union and the library.

It has been my pleasure to serve you and I will only continue to work harder if elected as your next Vice President of Clubs & Organizations. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at joshua.feng@stonybrook.edu. Thank you for your careful consideration, time, and support. I look forward to hearing from you. Go Seawolves!

VP of Clubs & Organizations Candidate

Hello fellow Seawolves,

My name is Akaansha Kundra and I am a junior majoring in Psychology with a minor in South Asian studies. I am running for Vice President of Clubs & Organizations because I believe that clubs and organizations are the heart and soul of Stony Brook University. They provide opportunities for students to explore their passions, learn new skills, make friends, and have fun.

I have been involved in various clubs and organizations since my freshman year, serving as secretary for Stony Brook’s Performing Bhangra Team, South Asian acapella group called SBU Asha, and Sikh Student Association. Through these experiences, I have gained valuable leadership skills, organizational skills, and communication skills. I have also learned about the challenges and needs that clubs and organizations face on campus.

In addition to my involvement in clubs and organizations, I have also been a Global Summer Ambassador and a Peer Assistant Leader. As a Global Summer Ambassador, I helped international students adjust to life at Stony Brook by organizing social events, providing academic support, and sharing cultural experiences. As a Peer Assistant Leader, I mentored incoming freshmen by facilitating workshops on topics such as time management, study skills, campus resources, and diversity.

As VP of Clubs & Organizations, I will work hard to support and empower all clubs and organizations by:

Holding workshops to assist members with tracking attendance for an event, navigating e-board meetings, and showcasing monthly events on campus.

Having a networking day for e-board members of clubs to network amongst each other and students for more informed knowledge about other clubs and organizations on campus.

Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in clubs and organizations by encouraging clubs to have a DEI officer or committee, offering DEI training for club leaders and members, and providing resources for events and initiatives that promote diversity and inclusivity.

Increasing transparency amongst student body and funding involved with clubs and organizations.

My goal is to foster an inclusive and vibrant campus community by providing resources, increasing campus liveliness, and being transparent amongst the student body. I hope you will vote for me as your next VP of Clubs & Organizations. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, Akaansha Kundra

VP of Clubs & Organizations Candidate

Hi, my name is Emma Leiman. I’m a junior, majoring in Business Management with a specialization in Finance. I’m running for the position of Vice President of Clubs and Organizations because I want to improve clubs on campus by making them more appealing and inviting for students to join. It’s very important to make sure clubs and organizations are following budgetary and financial policies. To make sure of this, we can keep track and continuously be in contact with all the different clubs and organizations. We also must make sure that all clubs and organizations are getting the budget they need, so they can use it to help students with their professional and personal development. We must realize that clubs and organizations are supposed to benefit students, and we must do everything we can to make sure they’re following guidelines and offering students the best possible experience to help with their growth.

VP of Clubs & Organizations Candidate

My name is Alexander Van Geuns and I am running to be your next VP of Clubs and Organizations!

My time as a senator this past year has taught me so much about the inner workings of the Stony Brook Community. I listened to the Student Activity Board talk about planning major events like Wolfieland and listened to department heads of all kinds come in and speak about what they do for the Stony Brook community. However I think I learned the most from my time as Vice Chair of the Probationary Budget Committee. This position allowed me to interact with newer clubs who oftentimes were applying for their first budgets and see the same roadblocks that all clubs were running into. As such I now understand many of the struggles these newer clubs faced, and how to help fix them.

What I want to do:

Increase communication and transparency between USG and clubs.

I intend to create a single document or website containing all relevant information for new and established clubs to navigate the red tape surrounding USG funding. By centralizing all the relevant information and bettering the user interface of existing websites I hope to reduce confusion and make USG standards for clubs abundantly clear.

Create a new grant for annual events.

I think some of the most exciting events on campus are the huge annual traditions which everyone on campus looks forward to. I want to help clubs establish these new traditions that students can look forward to every year. By creating a new type of grant these clubs can receive the funding needed to make their events a success.

Create new club coalitions.

As a senator I was lucky enough to be chosen to be the USG representative for VERDE which is a coalition of all sustainability focused clubs on campus. I think this coalition has been extremely helpful for connecting many clubs with similar goals across campus, and I would like to help develop more. It would be beneficial to the Stony Brook Community to make more coalitions for clubs interested in topics like social activism or cultural appreciation, and hopefully create more opportunities for these clubs to collaborate.