In a recent message to the McIntire community, 2019-2020 Commerce Council president Jason Kramer and vice president Taylor Cobb expressed their gratitude for a successful, memorable, and historic school year.
“This year, our community participated in dozens of events and faced unprecedented circumstances. Although it has been a difficult semester, we cannot express how grateful we are for your optimism and engagement,” they wrote.
Highlighting some of the dozens of opportunities that kept students highly engaged, which included new collaborative efforts and partnerships, as well as the founding of new groups to better represent McIntire students, the group leaders also recounted the many positive changes Commerce Council was able to enact for the benefit of future classes.
Some of those efforts included:
- Designing new School store merchandise to available next semester
- Restructuring Commerce Council to make it more team-oriented by establishing a programming board for to plan events as a group
- Advocating for mental health resources and adjusting several programs to support various dimensions of student wellness and awareness
- Working with StudCo and McIntire’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to bring back a CIO-contracted, sustainable Pride at McIntire group for supporting and advocating for students of the LGBTQIA+ community
- Donating a new universal wall charger to support McIntire’s Help Desk and better the student work environment
- Formulating an A.D.A.P.T. Initiative in response to the COVID-19 crisis
- Raising and distributing close to $1,000 to financially support 100% of McIntire students who applied for assistance
- Partnering with other student leaders to find the best graduation solution
- Launching the President’s Council Annual Initiative, which aims to make a lasting impact on the community by uniting all McIntire club presidents under a common project; in the future, the Commerce Council vice president will lead McIntire CIOs to select and collaborate on improvement initiatives
- Serving on the Dean Search Committee to represent the needs of past, current, and future students
The group also made improvements to strengthen partnerships and initiatives across and beyond Grounds, which included:
- Co-founding the Presidential Senate—consisting of presidents from each school council at UVA—to increase and promote collaboration between the different undergraduate councils across the University; it also lays the groundwork for a mental health initiative for next semester
- Representing McIntire at the Undergraduate Business Student Government Summit. Hosted online by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the council discussed crucial ideas with peer groups from other highly ranked business schools, sharing best practices for students (including a timely discussion on COVID-19 graduation alternatives), while establishing the School’s presence on a national stage
- Serving McIntire on more than seven other committees, including the Diversity Advisory Committee, Lawn Selection Process Committee, President Ryan’s Public Occasions Committee, Sky Alland Scholarship Committee, Undergraduate Programs Committee, and other University-wide ad hoc committees
