Led by Lukas Kopperman, the Gold Team running for Student Government for the 2020-2021 academic year consists of Blanca Rollnert as Segovia Academic Officer, María Paula Jiménez as Segovia Community Development Officer, Lorenz Ewaldsen as Madrid Academic Officer, Farida Naggar as Madrid Community Development Officer, and Estefanía Salume as Communications Officer. Their campaign focuses on a few realistic goals to improve the lives of IE students.
One of their most notable proposals is the IE League, an initiative started by Koppermann in previous years in Segovia. This league aims to involve students in a competitive way without the pressures of official sports, providing opportunities to play for fun and watch more sporting events. Kopperman hopes this initiative will help bring about more of a campus atmosphere in Madrid, especially for those “that weren’t skilled enough to play for the actual club but still [want] to be an active part of the social life.” The first IE League, based solely in Segovia, brought in about 120 participants, with “even more showed up to come watch the game,” and Koppermann hopes his team can implement this on a university-wide scale.\
Koppermann emphasized his experience with the IE League in giving him credibility to lead the Student Government, having started one of his major goals from outside the system. Other members of his team lead and attend clubs such as the Mentorship Society, the Academic Committee, and the Football Club, and serve as class reps. Additionally, Salume leads the Community Development Committee, giving her, in Koppermann’s words, “a great understanding of what some of the IE community is concerned about.”
Academically, the Gold Team supports an increase in the influence of class reps and more accountability for professors through monthly opinion surveys rather than just end-of-course surveys. “We want to be able to have a constant flow of feedback and information,” says Koppermann, “therefore have a sort of feedback system which will be made up of monthly surveys and meetings with class reps.” They also aim for “academic harmonization,” especially within degrees. They push for the standardization of grading systems in degrees with multiple classes, which they claim will bypass the disparities between various professors’ teaching methods.
For Segovia, Gold Team promotes three policies to help the Segovia campus integrate into the community. First, they support opening volunteer programs around Segovia to help students get involved with the community and meet local Segovians. Secondly, they aim to open some club events to other universities in town, such as UVA and the Artillery Academy, working off the idea of the Artillery Debates. Finally, Team Gold promotes the idea of a “SegoviaXIE,” where IE opens its doors to the community and brings in professors, career specialists, and clubs for not only IE Segovia students but local students as well. They hope that this increased exposure will help ease tensions between locals and students.
To sum up their campaign, Gold Team chose the slogan “Golden times are here,” highlighting their commitment to improving the quality of life for IE students. “We have all proven to be committed to changing and improving this university,” says Koppermann, “and this is our opportunity to finally make an impact on everyone and not just on the sectors we each have worked in.” You can follow the Gold Team at @ieuteamgold on Instagram.
