A main focus of the Student Life Office is the Sun God Festival, UCSD’s annual event that attracts thousands of attendees and costs hundreds of thousands. Last year’s concert (pictured) marked the last before a historic overhaul of the event’s operations and layout. (Will Parson/Guardian File)

As leader of the department that oversees some of the
services, events and entertainment sources most relatable to students, the A.S.
vice president of student life retains a sound amount of importance.

This means Darryl Nousome would have to keep watch over the
rebirth of the Sun God Festival. In its first run in a new format, students
will be looking to Nousome to accurately gauge reactions to the changes and
adjust accordingly. Weak leadership will damage festival planning to the level
it saw at the beginning of the year, when administrators were spearing students
for the glaring mishandling of last year’s festival. The injury is already
rearing its head, with Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Penny Rue rejecting a
request for added security funds.

The message is clear: administrators plan to lay Sun God’s
problems at students’ doorsteps. A responsive, determined leader in the
council’s Student Life Office will be able to provide event programmers with
the resources they need and advocate student interests in the fight against
administrators to preserve the festival’s core ideals.

Programming is certainly one of Nousome’s priorities, as he
highlights Sun God and Bear Gardens
as lynchpins in the campus environment. He also wants to beef up the programming
staff by adding a senior event coordinator, a good move if the council wants to
manage the increasingly bulky department.

Nousome will also oversee committee appointments, one of
this school’s most precious political tools for students. His work inside the
office as A.S. President Donna Bean’s chief of staff enlightened him on the
committees’ crucial use; they are the battleground where students press their
rights in any number of areas from transportation to free speech. Careful
scrutiny of these committees’ works will allow the Student Life leader to
better steer the direction of student interests.

Nousome also understands that publicizing these committees
is not enough. Members must be capable and knowledgable about the issues at
hand; they must be the best possible instruments for the student voice. If
representatives are still not able to institutionalize student interests, then
Nousome said he will move to increase the level of student representation,
something direly needed in areas such as the Transportation Policy Committee.

Many of Nousome’s principles center on collaboration. His
work on the Revelle/Sixth College Festival gives him inside knowledge of the
university’s moving parts, specifically the huge endeavor of coordinating those
parts into a campus-hosted concert.