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Friday, March 29, 2024
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A NEW AU — Nate Bronstein, right, sitting with Student Government President Andy MacCracken was elected SG president March 24. Bronstein’s plans for AU include improving AU’s sense of community and making better connections with other colleges in D.C.

Get to know SG President Elect Nate Bronstein

An inside look into his life and plans

Student Government President-elect Nate Bronstein did not have any interest in politics or the world beyond his own backyard until the events of Sept. 11 started him thinking about bigger issues.

“As stereotypical as it sounds, 9/11 really got me into what was going on in the world around me,” Bronstein said.

Bronstein’s interest in politics began to pick up in earnest the following summer after he read a magazine article which argued that, at that point in time, society could only be saved by human ingenuity.

“I remember reading [the article] and thinking, ‘Boy, I hope my generation is up to the task,’” Bronstein said. “Then I realized — hey, I should be up to the task. I realized my role to play in all of this would be through politics — mobilizing others to make a difference.”

Bronstein, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs and School of International Service, became student body president of his middle school and then went on to high school where he was active in the student government and was again elected student body president.

Bronstein said his biggest goal as SG president is to strengthen AU’s sense of community. The greatest thing about AU students, Bronstein said, is that each student comes in with their own talents and passions. But AU students need to work harder to make a difference as a student body, he said.

“I want students to go from saying, ‘I will change the world,’ to ‘we will change the world,’” Bronstein said.

Bronstein has a number of projects planned for his presidency. He will work to get AU better connected to the D.C. Metro-University Student Alliance, an organization that fosters dialogue between student government representatives from colleges across D.C. Bronstein hopes to use this organization to collaborate with other D.C. schools on events like concerts and music festivals.

He also wants to establish a community service coalition and to increase the number of student liaisons that report to the SG.

Bronstein said the community service coalition will be “a whole new department with constant programming for service.” The department will streamline the process a student has to go through at AU to organize for a specific cause. It also will connect students with other students who want to work on a cause, according to Bronstein.

He said he hopes the liaison initiative will help the SG better understand the needs and concerns of specific groups at AU. The liaisons, who will report directly to the SG secretary, will each focus on one particular student issue and report to the secretary about that issue.

Bronstein hopes to get liaisons for the Inter-fraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council, student athletes and various clubs and organizations across campus. But Bronstein also stressed that he is open to suggestions for new liaisons.

Bronstein promises he will be significantly different from his predecessor, current SG President Andy MacCracken.

“I’m more about getting out there,” Bronstein said. “During my campaign I would run up and talk to people. I ran around wearing a cape for a campaign video. The loudness that I have — and I know I’m a loud person — is probably the biggest difference.”

Bronstein said his “loudness” will help him with outreach and transparency. Along with keeping in touch with various student clubs and organizations, he said he will talk to average AU students on a regular basis.

Bronstein has a lot of plans for what he wants to do personally when he graduates from AU. Bronstein said he will go to law school, but “not to be lawyer — just because it would be a great tool for me to have when I go into politics.”

Bronstein listed a number of possibilities for after graduation ranging from teaching to firefighting. But he said that politics is his real passion.

“I’ve wanted to be a politician since I was 10 years old,” Bronstein said.

You can reach this staff writer at jryan@theeagleonline.com.


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