As president of Graduate Student Council (GSC), sixth-year PhD candidate Aaron McPeck is an essential link between the university’s administration and its graduate and professional students. It’s a role he relishes as an aspiring higher education administrator. McPeck joined the GSC leadership during the 2019-20 year as the director of academic affairs, and soon landed his position as president. But he stepped into that role amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when graduate students faced unique challenges. It led him to reconsider much of what he knew GSC to be. While GSC traditionally focused on programming like a back-to-school picnic and weekly happy hour gatherings, the organization’s work shifted to advocate for what graduate students needed most amid the pandemic, including access to mental and physical health resources.
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