Remember college student government? I loved it. Oh, I was never involved -- I was the guy rolling my eyes at intense conversations with the student leadership on behalf of the student newspaper -- but I always enjoyed the idea of collegiate political life. College student government wasn't as much of an obvious joke as, say, high school, but this being college, it wasn't exactly serious, either. Everyone kept a straight face, but there was always a sense of irony there, too. (As in: "Are we really arguing about this? Well, what else are we going to argue about? We have no power! I just did this to put on my résumé. Eh, let's just go to the bars.")
In other words, it's good to see Georgetown center Henry Sims -- who is apparently running for vice president of the Georgetown student body -- approaching his candidacy in that spirit. Along with presidential candidate Jed Feiman, Sims recorded a campaign ad that parodies "The Social Network" (sort of, I guess), and the two have launched their candidacy with a rather enjoyable (if questionably designed) site, complete with whimsical photo-ads and bios to match:
Jed is the Vice President of the College Academic Council, a director of Improv, and, yes, a beast.
Henry Sims plays chess.
We’re aiming to give voice to typically underrepresented members of the community and unite the campus.
We’re running for GUSA.
The College Basketball Nation blog neither endorses nor criticizes campaigns for office, even if those candidates are basketball players that aren't really running for public office. We report, you, um, choose. (That's a pretty good slogan. Someone should coin that.)
Instead, we will merely wish the best of luck to all candidates -- athletic chess players and otherwise -- and hope the spirit of college student government continues to be as simultaneously serious and casual as it should be. Have fun, kids.
(Hat tip: Matt Norlander)