Adapt, Advocate, Appreciate
This year, we entered office with three guiding words: Adapt, Advocate, Appreciate.
What began as a campaign message gradually became the clearest way for us to understand what Student Government needed to be for our campus. This was a year of growth, transition, and rising expectations. As NYU Shanghai welcomed the Class of 2029, the largest incoming class in the university’s history, Student Government also grew in scale and responsibility. In a moment like this, leadership could not stop at organizing events or responding to concerns one by one. It required patience, follow-through, and a stronger commitment to making Student Government visible, responsive, and connected to student life.
To adapt meant learning how to meet a campus that was changing quickly. New questions emerged across academic life, residence life, student organizations, and the everyday experience of being on campus. We had to respond with more structure, clearer communication, and a better sense of how different parts of student life were connected.
To advocate meant more than speaking up. It meant turning student experiences into something organized, constructive, and difficult to dismiss. That was especially visible in Academic Affairs, for which this year marked the first as a formal committee. That step mattered. It made academic representation more sustained, focused, and better equipped to do serious work. Throughout the year, the committee organized focus groups, met with deans and academic leaders, and helped produce two policy reports. Together, these reports reflected a broader effort to translate student concerns into feedback that was thoughtful, specific, and actionable.
That same spirit shaped Student Life and Residence, whose work stayed close to the realities of daily campus life. Across the year, the committee followed issues related to housing, facilities, common spaces, noise, food, campus safety, and feedback systems. They worked on efforts such as a cafeteria tour, a work-order feedback system, and continued follow-up on concerns around residence life and shared spaces. SLR also raised IT-related concerns in meetings with administration, including search result issues in Japanese and student internet speed limits. Those conversations led to concrete responses from IT, including language-switching guidance and a dedicated Wi-Fi line. At the same time, the committee also helped foster a greater sense of warmth and understanding through initiatives such as Season of Gratitude, which encouraged community members to recognize and appreciate one another in the midst of a busy year.
The work of Class Representatives kept Student Government grounded in the rhythms of student life across all four years. Throughout the year, class reps gathered feedback, supported transitions, and created moments of connection tailored to their communities. That included traditions such as Spirit Week, class-specific efforts such as Sophomore Farewell, and, for the senior class reps, the meaningful work of helping the graduating class leave campus with warm final memories. Some parts of student life are remembered through policies or formal achievements; others are remembered through moments of care, celebration, and belonging.
To appreciate meant treating community spirit as something essential. At NYU Shanghai, belonging matters. The ability to gather, celebrate, laugh, and feel part of a shared campus life is part of what gives this community its character. Student Events carried much of that work this year, especially through signature events such as Carnival of Terror, Dumpling Festival and Spring Formal. These were not simply large programs on a calendar. They helped turn a demanding academic year into a shared one.
That same sense of care ran through Student Wellness Initiatives, which approached student life through warmth, connection, and encouragement. From Cupid’s Cola Corner to Dear Future Graduates and other collaborative programming throughout the year, the committee helped make wellness visible and communal. Their work reminded us that supporting student well-being is not only about responding to stress, but also about creating space for joy, recognition, and reassurance.
Environmental Sustainability brought another important dimension to the year by making sustainability something students could join directly. Through initiatives such as Empty Your Plate, Unplug, Green Fair, and other projects and collaborations, the committee made environmental engagement active and present on campus.
External Affairs expanded the outward-facing side of Student Government. Across the year, the committee worked on partnerships, trips, and a growing range of student discounts and offers. These opportunities brought practical value into students’ day-to-day lives and broadened SG’s presence beyond meetings and internal operations.
Global Affairs focused above all on helping students feel more connected to the wider NYU network. This year, the committee’s most visible work included Global Tip Tuesday and Qilin Worldwide, which brought global student life into clearer view on our campus. At the same time, Global Affairs also worked with the President, Vice President, and Senators to strengthen communication with New York and Abu Dhabi, helping rebuild ties across the global network.
Student Organizations continued to sustain one of the most important foundations of campus life: the student club ecosystem. Through recognition processes, funding, leadership support, and transition work, the committee supported the structure that allows student-led activity to flourish. This year saw a record-breaking number of new club applications — over 30 — and a record 29 formally recognized clubs. It was also a year in which club life felt especially vibrant, with successful student-led programming including Trash Fashion Show, the annual TEDx NYU Shanghai Conference, and two stage productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Antigone, alongside many smaller events across campus.
A great deal of the year also depended on the people responsible for keeping the organization coherent, transparent, and legible. The President and Vice President spent much of the year in conversation, guiding the direction of the organization while carrying student concerns into administrative considerations by numerous discussions and the two policy reports: Report on Artificial Intelligence and Academic Advising and Students’ Perspectives on the WAC Committee's Recommendations. The Chief of Staff kept SG running behind the scenes through scheduling, documentation, retreat planning, transition preparation, and day-to-day coordination. The Financial Assistant strengthened spending oversight, inventory upkeep, and financial transparency through quarterly and full-year reports that made SG’s work easier to understand. The Press Secretary helped move SG’s public communication beyond a routine newsletter by improving webpage updates, highlighting achievements more intentionally, and experimenting with more engaging ways of sharing SG’s work.
No single committee, project, or event can fully capture this year. What defined 2025–2026 was the shared effort to build a Student Government that could adapt to change, represent students with greater clarity, and hold on to the sense of community that makes NYU Shanghai distinctive. Some of that work was highly visible. Some of it happened in meetings, drafts, spreadsheets, and follow-up conversations. All of it depended on people who cared deeply about our NYU Shanghai community.
We are deeply grateful to everyone who made this year possible — to the directors who built and led their own teams, to the committee members who carried ideas into action, to the class representatives and senators who stayed close to student concerns, to our advisors and administrative partners who worked with us in good faith, and to the wider student body and community partners whose trust, feedback, and energy gave this work its meaning.
Adapt. Advocate. Appreciate.
That was where we began. Looking back, it still feels like the right way to tell the story of this year.
