The people have spoken. Winning the SGA presidential election with 50 percent of the votes, was junior Ross Fernstrum. While Fernstrum may be a new face to the SGA scene, he hopes to bring a fresh perspective to the process.
“I feel passionate about the student experience here at NW,” he said. “I felt as SGA president that there was an opportunity to better that experience that I couldn’t pass up.”
How Fernstrum got to NW is another story though. Both his mother and older brother went to NW, and Fernstrum grew up not wanting to follow in their footsteps.
“I was being recruited by a number of different schools, so I was going on a lot of different visits but everything felt empty,” he said. “When I visited NW, I felt the difference. People cared.”
Fernstrum hasn’t regretted his decision for a moment and has filled his time by being involved all over campus.
“There are so many parts I love. I’ve loved playing football here. I lived in West for two years; I loved that,” Fernstrum said. “Overall, I think it’s just the random activities and interactions with people that really stick out when reflecting on my experience thus far.”
And although he’s new to the presidential office, Fernstrum’s attempt to join SGA began last year. After submitting an application for the Academic Affairs representative position, Fernstrum recalled, with a smile, “They told me ‘no’ because I was too involved.”
Fernstrum disclosed that he doesn’t have any preconceived ideas about the presidency. Going into the next academic year, he described simply wanting to be real about the NW student experience and do what he can to unify the different pieces of that experience.
“I don’t have a set list of initiatives that I’m going to propose; I want to know what the students want. I’m looking forward to interacting with other SGA members as far to see what is important,” he said.
“I do want to work at building support among students for other students. Even if it’s getting a bunch of guys who usually wouldn’t attend a play to all go see a show like Baghdad Tales or to up attendance at our choir concerts. Instead of, say, 100 students, lets get 200 to go out and show our support.”
In the end, Fernstrum firmly believes that, “The college experience is what you want to make it.”
“It’s always better, though, when you feel the support,” he said. “I’m not expecting us all to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but we can always still try something new.”