Council Member Directory

Get To Know Simas

Major:

Get To Know Savanah

Major: Political Science, Class of 2024

Savanah is a junior studying Political Science, originally hailing from rural upstate New York. She became involved in student advocacy during her time at Community College where she served in executive leadership positions on both a campus and statewide scale. She is passionate about empowering student voices in collaboration with administration and ensuring that everyone has a seat at the table! In her position on council, Savanah is excited to support the work of the GS Senator on Columbia University Senate and serve on the Policy committee at GSSC! She is passionate about initiatives uplifting the Columbia student experience and providing resources to the GS campus community! In her free time Savanah enjoys exploring NYC’s various food, dance, art, and theater scenes!

Stand Columbia!

Oliver is in his fourth year of the Dual BA Program with Trinity College Dublin and is graduating in 2024. He studied Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures at Trinity and studies Political Science at Columbia.

As VP of Communications Oliver is excited to help make GSSC work as smoothly as possible, and is excited to play an active role in making sure all the hard work we put in as GSSC gets communicated to the student body, so we can get everyone at Columbia as involved as possible. He loves being a part of GSSC so he can play an active role in the GS community, and can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!

Get To Know Nasser

Major: English and Film & Media Studies, Class of 2025

Contact Info: [email protected]

Nasser is in his third year at GS, studying English and Film & Media Studies. He plans to attend film school after Columbia and has been actively involved in GSSC since arriving to Columbia in the fall of 2021. Before GS, Nasser obtained bachelor’s degrees in the fields of Chemistry and Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, before deciding to leave STEM and return to school to pursue new academic and career opportunities. In between his previous university and Columbia, Nasser worked as the Head of Operations at a non-profit food business focused on refugee and asylum-seeking women from Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa regions.

Outside of his involvement on student council and in school, Nasser is involved with two student groups that advocate for first-generation, low-income students, Matriculate and the GS FGLI group, as well as serving as an Orientation Leader and Crew Captain during the New Student Orientation Period (NSOP). Additionally, Nasser works part-time for the Columbia Library system, as an Admissions Ambassador and Tour Guide for the GS Admissions Office, and as a gig worker for the Columbia Bartending Agency.

Nasser’s focus on council is to ensure that all four Committees are fully supported and functioning, while overseeing opportunities for collaboration within and outside of GSSC. His initiatives include working on a variety of important changes for students through advocacy work on the Policy Committee, specifically along the domains of finances, dining, housing, academic policies, and mental health, ensuring that GSSC’s student events represent the diverse interests and increased demand of our student body through the Campus Life Committee, and enhancing the logistical work done by the Finance and Communications Committee.

In his downtime, Nasser can be found exploring restaurants throughout the city, taking walks around Morningside Heights, listening to music, watching movies or television, or spending time with friends.

If you see Nasser around campus, make sure to say hi and introduce yourself!

Get To Know Katherine

Major: Political Science '24

Kat is a third year student in GS studying Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and graduating in 2024. She is a part of the Trinity College Dublin and Columbia University Dual BA Program and has spent the last two years in Dublin, Ireland studying Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures with specializations in German and Arabic studies. Her interests lie in the political and international relations fields and hopes one day to work in the UN or State Department. In the coming years she is looking to work towards earning her JD/MBA degree and to live in Europe with several dogs. 

As Alumni Affairs Representative she hopes to bring awareness to the various post-graduate resources available to current undergraduates. These resources are currently hidden under the “you can google it” mentality and she hopes to change the narrative. In addition, Kat hopes to bring graduates and undergraduates of the GS community closer together in various events such as Homecoming, coffee chats, and small group discussions to aid upperclassmen in the transition from student to graduate. She is excited for the role as she has watched both her parents benefit from the Columbia alumni resources and aspires to help others find the same.

Outside of classes and GSSC you can find Kat working with Columbia Women in Business Society as a part of the conference committee, working with the Friend of Aine non-profit raising awareness and money for child bereavement, and traveling to Dublin and Germany to visit her friends abroad. She loves being sarcastic, finding dogs to pet, and finding quiet spaces to listen to music and people watch. Please feel free to reach out to her with any questions about Campus Life or Alumni Affairs that you might have or if you just want to grab coffee!

Faith is a junior studying Visual Arts and Computer Science. She was born in Portland, Oregon, and was raised in South Orange County, California. Faith has served in numerous positions on GSSC — two years ago starting as the Community Services and Sustainability Representative, then becoming the First-Year Class President, and last year starting as the Social Media Representative and then becoming our VP of Communications.

Get To Know Bruce 

Major: Cognitive Science & Public Health '25

Bruce is a French Air Force Veteran currently studying Cognitive Science & Public Health and graduating in 2025. He deeply values the Columbia Experience for its students and employees and cares greatly about ensuring that everyone is able to take care of their physical, social, and mental health while having at their disposal the right tools and resources to thrive financially, academically, and professionally.

He has previously interned for the laboratories of Veolia Water Technologies in the processes of providing potable water for humanitarian emergencies and worked for Rotary International for which he organized fundraisers that were able to fund the rural electrification and structural transformation of multiple schools and villages in Mali, Togo, and Burkina Faso. He believes that it is up to us to speak for those whose voices are not being heard and that we each have a role to play in reducing the inequalities we witness in the environments in which we evolve. We have to be conscious of the impact that we have on people and on society, and take action in the direction that will help better the lives of others around us and for the generations to come.

In his free time, Bruce enjoys hiking with his friends and practicing track & field but you will also find him catching up on musicals he has not seen yet or spending hours reading in random bookstores.