Hello RPI! I’m Kyle Keraga, Class of 2015 senator and president of the Undergraduate Council, here to fill you in on exciting recent and upcoming class events on campus and explain what class councils do for you.
Each year, every undergraduate class elects 14 of its members to serve as their class council. These councils, consisting of four senators and eight representatives, headed by the class presidents and vice presidents, are responsible for fostering community and togetherness among their class years. They do this using class funds to put on programming for their class. Class council programs are varied, and highly creative, ranging from festivals to dance parties to talent shows and far more; these events are the pinnacle of your Council’s hard work and a great way to have a good time.
The Undergraduate Council, with membership from all four class years, is the group meant to unite and connect all undergraduate classes, and, more importantly, to guide and assist each individual class council. We work to help ensure the councils are successful in their efforts. Far too often, great class council events struggle with attendance: an unfortunate waste of potential. This year we’ll be working with The Poly to help connect you to the efforts of your class council and the Undergraduate Council so that you can be aware of the great opportunities and events that are going on around campus. This past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the Class of 2015 Council’s third annual talent show, the R-Factor. The range and the quality of the performances was amazing: Among the contestants were singers, dancers, and self-composing pianists, as well as more esoteric, surprising, and equally impressive talents such as a world champion whistler and a beatboxer whose skills were almost inhuman. Brandon Win ’15 and Adam Koehr ’15 were superb on the mic, coming out strong in this excellent followup to a traditionally stellar event. Congratulations to Joe Kalina ’15, guitarist and our champion for the second year running, as well as to all the other talented performers who came out this past weekend.
On Saturday, November 23, the 2015 Council will be hosting its second event, a Viral Video Showdown in DCC 308! Leading up to the event, the 2015 Council created its own viral video, Things RPI Students Never Say. If you haven’t seen it yet, give it a watch for a good laugh. At the event, you’ll get to see classic internet viral videos alongside submissions from your classmates. Your votes matter, so come and help decide the best RPI viral video! Additionally, 2015 is looking for more submissions for the contest, and welcomes anyone to participate. Prizes will be awarded to the top three videos, so if you’re interested in joining, submit a video you’ve created to Jacob Derechin ’15 at derecj@rpi.edu!
With this column, we’ll be keeping you up to speed with your class councils, and spreading the word about great events like these. Throughout the upcoming months, you’ll be hearing from us about exciting campus happenings for each class year, so stay tuned for more!
The last thing I want to leave you with is that being involved in a class council is creative, fun, and open to anyone who would like to get involved. If you’re interested in helping plan any of these programs and events, or have any questions, e-mail me at keragk@rpi.edu. Good luck in all your studies, and as of November 5, happy birthday RPI!