Student Rep Candidate 2016: Emily Beiser

Interviewed by Luka De Silva, photographed by Emma Jean

First off to introduce yourself, three facts about you.

My name is Emily Beiser. I come from Philadelphia. And I am running for Student Rep !

Why would you like to be a Student Rep?

I would like to help students by representing them. I think that I have quite a few ideas about the ways institutions should be run so that everybody is better off. I also generally like helping people, not in an altruistic way, but I think I’m good at listening to people.

Do you have previous similar experience?

Yes, I was Student Rep in my High School for a year. I didn’t run for re-election because thankfully, I felt we were not needed. We did BDE kind of stuff (social event planning), which I didn’t find all that interesting, but our administration was very flexible. Everyone who had a problem could directly deal with it. What I did (as student rep) which was interesting was interviewing candidates for the new head of school, and then giving recommendations to the committee who oversaw the selection of the head of school. I was also stage manager of the theatre, which consists of scheduling, resolving conflicts, solving issues… Lots of thing a Student Rep does!

What would be your main aims and missions as a Student Rep?

Create a guide to the administration. In the end my goal is to make my job obsolete. I don’t mean that we shouldn’t have Student Reps, but I mean I prefer that students can communicate directly with the administration. That way we would be all better off. So I think a guide to the administration will help us to understand whom to talk to for different problems, and know how the school structure works.
The administration should better communicate with the students. Sciences Po is a great school, and I think it’s quite embarrassing we don’t know the calendar of the semester before the end of the previous one. Make-up classes on Saturday should be scheduled at least three weeks in advance, too.
Improve access to information we have: faster Wi-Fi in library, having the readers at the beginning of the year, because we lose time where the teachers and the student [could be more productive]. The IP system should change [to be more efficient].

Why do you think you would be the most suitable for this position?

I would say I’m one of the most suitable, I’m very excited to work with other students. I think my experience in leadership in the past has really well prepared me. I do not escalate things, I think I treat people with a lot of respect and dignity. I think I’m aware of the different roles of administration and students. And I’m prepared to serve the students.

Miscellaneous question: If you were a famous political leader, who would you be and why?

 I hope I would be Emily Beiser. I guess you’re talking about who I look up to. I think I would say Ruth Bader Ginsburg, because she’s awesome. She’s a Supreme Court Justice, not a politician, but certainly a great leader.