New ABC board to continue streamlining

Representatives from the newly-elected executive board of the Activities Board at Columbia said improving ties to student groups next year won’t be easy as A-B-C.

After two and a half hours of deliberation, ABC internally elected its new executive board with Daniel Brown, CC ’12, as president and John O’Shea, CC ’13, as vice president. Incoming and outgoing representatives said they see ABC, the largest of the five governing boards that oversee student groups, becoming more like the Student Governing Board, which oversees most religious and humanitarian groups on campus.

“ABC is moving towards an SGB-like model, in which the governing board isn’t a big brother and doesn’t stand as an obstacle to group programming ... I have hopes that ABC and SGB will one day merge to become one great autonomous governing board,” Beezly Kiernan, CC ’11 and outgoing ABC president, wrote in an e-mail.

“I came from SGB to remake ABC into a better governing board in the mold of SGB, and I think we’ve done a good job this year of moving ABC in the right direction.”

Brown said that as president, he hopes to build stronger relationships with the other governing boards and implement online e-forms—which clubs use to spend funds—to simplify monitoring allocations and expenses for groups.

Each year ABC, which represents 156 student groups, internally elects its executive board after candidates give short speeches and answer questions from the board. Elections are drop-down, so if a candidate doesn’t win a certain position, she may run for a lower spot.

As one of their last projects, Kiernan said the outgoing board has been looking to book space for groups applying for recognition; unrecognized student groups currently face a number of challenges and delays when they try to book space this late into the year. The board recently passed a resolution to book space for groups currently applying for recognition.

Christine Byun, CC ’14 and ABC’s new secretary, said she looks forward to assisting unrecognized groups.

Chloe Ruan, SEAS ’13, was voted treasurer and said she would be interested in holding workshops for new club presidents and treasurers.

“I think many of them get into positions without really knowing what to do,” Ruan said, adding that she thinks such workshops will improve clubs’ ties to the board.

Kiernan said the last year has been a trailblazing one for ABC and he hopes the new board keeps the momentum up.

“This year has been full of changes as we try to make ABC less bureaucratic and more trusting of groups,” Kiernan wrote in an email. “In the past ABC has been more of an obstacle than a resource.”

Ruan said that while her election for treasurer was a bit “nerve-racking,” there were some lighter moments, like when the outgoing board asked candidates about their favorite ice cream flavors. Answers included espresso and strawberry cheesecake.

karla.jimenez@columbiaspectator.com