The building where the (GS) magic happens

Last night, the General Studies Student Council (GSSC) met in the Lerner Satow room for the first time this academic year, as the executive council laid out their plans for the upcoming weeks and months. New Guest Writer Matt Coulson attended the meeting, and covered all the highlights below.

To open things off, new council president, Samantha Demezieux, promised to keep the meeting brief, with the understanding that everyone had at least 500 pages of reading still to do. Following that, Demezieux went on to give a quick update on the current state of the Council. Highlights include:

  • The GSSC does not currently have a full council, and is still looking for students to take seats on the Council. Interested students can either refer to an email sent out by Demezieux on September 5 or the GSSC Facebook page for information on how to apply.
  • The GSSC is committed to increasing its involvement and inclusion with the larger General Studies community. Demezieux intends to sit down with all of the student leaders of recognized and unrecognized clubs at least twice a semester.
  • A renewed commitment to working closely with Dean Awn, and in quickly establishing a rapport and relationship with his replacement, when they are selected.

Following her opening remarks, Demezieux gave the floor to other members of the Council. Highlights include:

  • The Student Affairs Committee had their orientation last weekend. The main focuses of the committee are on mental health, financial insecurity, and students with disabilities.
  • The Finance Committee is still working on allocating all of the GSSC funds for the year.
  • The Policy Committee is working with CCSC and the Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences to create a faculty mentorship program. The program will pair students with faculty members who will provide guidance and advice in both academic and non-academic matters.
  • The GSSC is working aggressively to increase accessibility of Council meetings. The effort is manifesting itself through weekly postings of Council meeting minutes, livestreams of meetings through Facebook, and posting of Council agendas 72 hours in advance of each meeting.
  • Student Life will be holding weekly events outside of Lewisohn Hall for GS students as part of an effort to increase the overall sense of GS community. VP of Student Life Dennis Zhao promised these events will have both food and puppies.

Overall, the GSSC’s primary goals this year appear to be fostering a deeper sense of community within the GS student body, increasing accessibility and transparency of the council, allocating funds appropriately, and holding more events with puppies.

For those interested in seeing the film adaptation of this recap, a full video recording of the meeting is available on The GSSC’s Facebook page.

Lewisohn via CU Facilities site