For many Northwestern student groups, Spring Quarter is the time for ushering in a new set of leaders who must weather the transition period with fresh energy, original ideas and a full arsenal of advice from years past.
A&O Productions, like numerous other organizations, is in the midst of a transition period. Outgoing A&O Chairwoman Syd Cohen will pass on her executive role to next year’s chairman, Adam Pumm, this quarter.
Pumm was appointed about two weeks ago and will take charge of the organization and its programming after Friday’s A&O Ball.
“I am excited,” the Weinberg junior said. “You only get one chance to do things right, and you learn on the fly.”
The new chairman also will have Cohen to turn to for advice. Cohen said she will remain involved in the organization for the rest of the year.
“A&O has been my life for five years, so it would be hard for me not to participate,” Cohen said. “It is difficult to let go, but I am confident that A&O will be amazing next year.”
Most student groups have systems in place to make such annual transitions in leadership smoothly. Outgoing leaders often train and collaborate with their successors during Spring Quarter and provide new leaders with detailed transition records to show them how the group did things in the past.
Marrion Johnson, who was appointed the new coordinator of For Members Only at the end of Winter Quarter, said his past experience on the FMO executive board has prepared him for the transition – but he can always go to past leaders for advice.
“I met with (outgoing coordinator Zach Parker) a few times, and I spent my first three weeks planning Sunday’s (spring concert),” the Communication sophomore said.
For the Global Engagement Summit, this year’s transitions are especially significant, said Rajni Chandrasekhar, the outgoing co-director. Nearly all of the group’s founding members are graduating or have moved out of the area, the Weinberg senior said.
The new directors, Allie Bream and Megha Agrawal, were appointed Thursday and will begin preparing for next year’s programming, Chandrasekhar said.
“There is a significant amount of training and transition stuff for the rest of the year,” she said. “We will spend the rest of the year working with (Bream and Agrawal), so that they take things over on their own for next year.”
Chandrasekhar said she is confident that Bream and Agrawal, both SESP juniors, will keep GES true to its original mission.
“We have incredible opportunities to grow, and I am excited to see where next year’s leadership will take it,” she said.
For some groups, the new leadership only has a short honeymoon period.
Dance Marathon co-chairs, McCormick junior Ryan Farrell and SESP junior Lauren Troy, were appointed about two weeks ago and have already begun conducting interviews for their executive board and reading through applications for next year’s DM beneficiary.
DM’s executive board can rely on detailed transition records that all executive board members keep as they make decisions over the course of the year, said Phil Reich, outgoing executive co-chair.
“The nice thing about DM is that it is like a well-oiled machine,” the Weinberg senior said. “There is a lot of precedent.”
In addition to the records that he and Troy will use next year, past DM work has helped prepare the new co-chairs for the job, Farrell said.
Outgoing DM co-chair Liz Banks said past DM experiences are valuable to leading the organization.
“When I started to get stressed out, I remembered the beneficiary and I remembered that this was an organization that I had so much fun with in the past,” the Communication senior said. “Have fun and remember why you are doing it.”
