A Closing Chapter from the Club Coordinator

By Summer Tyler

Madison Valdez inside the PSGA Office located inside the Campus Center North Building. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)

Madison Valdez, a senior arts management major, has been a dedicated Purchase Student Government Association (PSGA) member for two years. This is Valdez's final semester at Purchase and working as the PSGA Coordinator of Clubs and Organizations (COCOs).

Aside from PSGA, she also serves as a mentor to freshman and sophomore students for the Hispanic Federation called College Readiness, Achievement and Retention (CREAR) Futuros. Valdez speaks about what she's learned while being heavily involved on campus and the importance of gaining experience through leadership. She is from the Washington Heights area in Manhattan.

How did you get involved with the PSGA?

I used to be the COCOS representative for SOCA [Students of Caribbean Ancestry]. That was about three years ago now. The person that was in my position, they host bi-weekly meetings for all the clubs to come to, and just get any information from admin or the PSGA, and they also request funding from there. I was the person from SOCA that would go and sit in these meetings. At the last meeting of that spring semester, they said they needed someone to fill this position because nobody ran…they were begging us to do it. I raised my hand and spoke about myself, and everybody voted for me, and now I'm here."

What are some of your responsibilities?

It's mostly just keeping track of club documents and making sure that everybody is up to date. If any clubs aren't showing up or aren't responding to certain things, if they don't show up to our semesterly retreat, then they're considered inactive, so then they can't receive any funding, their accounts are frozen. I’ll reach out to them, we’ll meet with those people that want their clubs to be active again.

The 2024-25 PSGA E-Board (from left to right) Neena Govea, Orion Morgan, Rachael Girsang, Jessica Bullock, Madison Valdez and Harley Colletti at this Spring semester's Club Fair inside The Stood. (Photo by Alex Del Cueto)

What does your position require?

I really focus on hosting those bi-weekly meetings. A lot of my time is spent creating slideshows for everybody and gathering all the information that I get within two weeks from admin. If a club is having a problem with something, I take the time to solve it and announce it there. I try to keep track of how much money is in that shared funding budget; all the clubs have a shared fund that they can request funding from. The way that this year went with the finance coordinator situation, it was hard to keep track of the budget. I've been trying my best to subtract the numbers while I'm sitting there. That's most of what it consists of. Also helping the E-Board [Executive Board] when they need me.

Do you face a lot of challenges in your position?

Communication is always hard with a lot of people. I'll send an email saying everything that I need, and then I'll get an email like, "How do you do this?" and it's like, "I just said that." And just dealing with PSGA stuff in general. With the whole finance coordinator situation, that impacts all of us, so just trying to bounce back and not let everybody else be affected too much. I was very concerned for all of the clubs and their budgets because, apparently, they were not correct. I was just trying to keep it neutral, I don't want people to get riled up by things that don't have anything to do with them. That happens a lot. That's my biggest frustration, trying to keep it peaceful.

Madison Valdez working inside the PSGA Conference Room. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)

Why did you choose Purchase?

I used to go to Pace University. Private school tuition was just too much, so I took some time off and was just looking for schools. My major there was arts & entertainment management, and not everywhere has anything like that, but Purchase did. I liked all of the other majors. I was like, "Oh, this is kind of artsy, that's weird, I like it." As someone who has always been a little bit artsy, I was very attracted to it. My first semester here, I commuted, which kind of sucked because I just didn't know what was going on. I moved onto campus, and since then, my world has really changed. I joined SOCA, and then I did that for one year. Now, I'm in my second year at PSGA and on the E-Board. Me and Rachael [PSGA Vice President Rachael Girsang] are the longest people on the E-Board. We've watched so many people leave; it's been really hard. I feel like we finally have a stable E-Board.

Anyway, my Purchase experience has been pretty good. It definitely has its ups and downs, PSGA-related or not; student life can be hard since it's such a small school. It has prepared me to deal with people.

Madison Valdez posing in front of The Great Lawn. (Photo via Madison Valdez)

What impact do you think you've made on the PSGA?

For a while, I was the only black person on the E-Board, and for the clubs, that was an important thing for cultural clubs specifically because they wanted to feel represented and wanted somebody that they could trust. They wanted to feel represented, and I feel like I was able to help with that. And just being there for the E-Board whenever they needed me emotionally or physically. Like if I just needed to be there and I was available, I always tried to be there. Just trying to keep it peaceful amongst everybody. I try not to get too caught up in whatever issues are going on, and I just want the job to get done…just acting as a neutral or balance. I think that's what I've done between clubs and the E-Board.

Do you have any plans for after graduation?

I'm not really sure what specifically I want to do work-wise. Being an arts management major, I feel like I'm basically managing a bunch of clubs and organizations. So, I feel like it's helping me gain experience working with so many different people and trying to problem solve, too. I think it'll definitely benefit me in the future because trying to do it now is hard when you're trying to balance being a student, being a mentor, and doing an internship… There are so many things happening at once that it's hard to focus on the job. Since I do have the experience now in the future when I do work and I do end up managing whatever musicians I end up managing, I know what to do, I know who to reach out to, I know what forms are needed, I know everything I need to know at least business-wise.

What advice would you give to [the next Coordinator of Clubs and Organizations]?

Be prepared for the unexpected. As corny as that sounds, it's true because you just never know what you're walking into. Any E-Board meeting, you really don't know what you're walking into. Just remember that the E-Board is there to support you, and you're there to support each other, so you're not going through it by yourself. Don't be afraid to ask questions, it's okay to not know something, it's okay to mess up and learn. Just keep going, keep trying, and don't give up.