First some history. GM Week started out being the celebration of the Grand Marshal election. The first Grand Marshal was elected in 1865. The Grand Marshal was charged with representing the student population on all occasions. The Grand Marshal helped to create a sense of unity among the students. Elections for Grand Marshal have been held every year since then, predominantly in the spring. What initially started out as one night of celebrating has turned into a week of activities and elections. Now when you go to the polls for GM Week, you are not only voting for the Grand Marshal but also for the President of the Union, your class senators and representatives, and Independent Council members. That sure is a far cry from the Grand Marshal election of 1865!

Now, why should you care about all of this Grand Marshal week stuff? Most RPI students have gripes and complaints—even I do. Student government at RPI allows us to get those gripes and concerns known to the administration and to those who can make a difference. During GM Week we have the ability to go and vote for those who will represent us and our concerns to the administration. For example, your class representatives will sit down and decide on a class gift, senior week activities, and the class ring design. The four senators that are elected from each undergraduate class and the six senators from the graduate class sit down and decide the Union activity fee, give input on curricula, and voice concerns about new programs and changes. That’s just the beginning! Too many students at RPI come out and vote but forget to follow up on the issues that are coming before Senate, class councils, and other student government bodies. Now is the time to get your issues and concerns heard!

Now comes the most important part of all of this. How do I get involved? How do I get my concerns heard? Communication is the key. If you have a concern that you want heard, e-mail the Senate (senate-listens@rpi.edu) and tell them what you think. Go to your class council meetings! Every week when you get The Poly, read what the Senate is doing and tell them what you think of the issues they are taking on. You can make a difference! You can make changes!

But the biggest difference you can make is to get involved in student government! As was discussed previously, GM Week is the election of all your student government representatives. So why not run for a position? You can be a class representative, a senator, even Grand Marshal or President of the Union. But the first step is to attend a candidate’s meeting and learn all about running for a position. So, in order to encourage you to run, information on student government elections and positions can be found at http://www.union.rpi.edu/elections. The first candidate’s meeting is today, Wednesday, in the Union Room 3502 at 9 pm.

That takes care of the election portion of GM Week—now onto the celebration part. Many Union clubs sponsor activities during GM week. Come out and have fun at all the GM Week-sponsored activities. You can find more information about getting your club involved in a GM Week activity as well as finding out which activities you and your friends would like to attend by going to the GM Week webpage at http://www.union.rpi.edu/gmweek. This page will be updated regularly so make sure you check back often to find out about all the activities from laser tag to Meanest Man on Campus!