Candidate Profile

William Gorski

(He/Him)

Hello, I am William Gorski and I am proud to run for Illinois Student Council Representative for the Graduate College. For some background, I am a junior and an accountancy major who will begin the masters program here next semester. I come from a small town called Lemont in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. On campus, I am a James Scholar and a Team Lead for Academic Peer Advising in the Success Lab. In my free time, I love to read, hang out with friends, and exercise. Campus safety is my biggest concern for this campaign. Before the start of our semester, three Greek Life residences were burglarized. In the first week of the fall semester, three individuals robbed someone two minutes away from where I live. While walking back to my apartment, I have been approached and harassed on multiple occasions from non-students. I live only three blocks north of Green Street yet feel unsafe walking at night. The potential of being a victim of a crime should not always linger in your mind. To improve campus safety, I will seek to leverage the Committee on Community & Governmental Relations to address safety concerns to law enforcement and local municipal governments. Using this same committee, I will seek to improve lighting at night both on and off campus as it will further deter crime. Finally, I will encourage the university to implement surveillance systems on the outside of university buildings to ensure that if a crime happens on campus, the perpetrator can be found. Our time in college is limited, so I hope to contribute to an environment of safety, learning, and fun on campus while I can. Another initiative I will take is to remove financial incentives for running for office. Currently, a variety of positions within the Illinois Student Council receive a stipend when elected. Being elected to the council is a privilege and should not be rewarded financially. If elected, I will seek to eliminate the awarded stipend for all positions currently receiving it under the current Illinois Student Council Constitution. Finally, if I am elected, I want to represent all graduate college students, not just myself. If you have any concerns or questions about other stances I have or recommendations for other initiatives the Illinois Student Council should take, please let me know at wgors2@illinois.edu. I have a lot of ideas for things that should be done differently, but I may not address every issue, so please reach out to me about things you would like to see changed at our university. Thank you for taking the time to read my proposals and I would be honored to have your vote.