Meet the New PSGA Vice President

By Shaya Silberstein

Jason Berry is a junior visual arts major with a television theory and practice minor, and is currently the president of Creative Artists Producing Epic Stories (CAPES). Berry will be the new elected vice president (VP) for the Purchase Student Government Association (PSGA) for the upcoming fall semester. 

Jason Berry poses for a photo as the new vice president of the Purchase Student Government Association. (Photo by Alex De Ceuto)

As VP of the PSGA, Berry has big goals, mainly pertaining to human resources. “As vice president, I would be the chief Human Resources (HR) officer for all PSGA employees, interns, services, and I guess this year there has been a kind of, for lack of a better word, mess," said Berry.

"It’s gonna happen, we’re all students, we all have these jobs, we all take on a lot," Berry continued. "I want to be trained in HR so that I can be a trusted facilitator for when things happen. I want people to come into my office hours and talk to me about what’s going on in the workplace because we are employees, but we are also students, and we are all human beings.”  

 Other goals Berry will look to bring as VP will be looking for more student involvement. “As VP, I really want to stress student involvement. We are completely funded by MSAF [Mandatory Student Activity Fee], which every student contributes to. I want to make sure everything we plan for this money aligns with what the student body wants to see," said Berry. "People should know about us and what we do so they can effectively let us know what's working and what’s not in order to improve.”

Berry is also looking forward to working closely with student services. “I really want to bring more awareness to them [student services]. There are a ton of them and they offer so many creative outlets and opportunities for work experience, so they should be more popular than they are already and I shall see to it that they are! I also want to see if I can push them to start trying some new things to foster more engagement,” said Berry.

Berry's journey to Purchase started with his passion in Visual Arts. “In high school, I went to LaGuardia, it's a specialized high school in New York City. That's where I really fell in love with the fine arts and found my major there,” said Berry.

Berry would go on a different route to get to Purchase. “In my first year of college, I went to the University of Connecticut, and I really didn't enjoy that because I felt like there was lack of community and exclusiveness as I wanted it to be," said Berry. "So in the fall of 2023, I transferred to Purchase. I decided to continue doing visual arts because that’s what I’m passionate about, I want to be in the animation industry one day, or working graphic design.”

First leadership positions for Berry started when he founded CAPES, an artist and writer comic club. “In my first semester here, I noticed there wasn't a lot of space for students that were interested in illustration, animation, graphic novels, and artwork with narrative focus," said Berry. "I realized there wasn’t a club for it. I reached out to friends to form an E-Board [Executive Board] through the PSGA coordinator clubs and organizations. We held general interest meetings and got approval with the student committee to start meeting every Friday, since spring 2024.” 

Berry holding an E-Board meeting top to bottom: Matthew Bell, Jason Berry, Charlie Sloss and Nellie Duggan-Haas. (Photo by Alex De Cueto)

Berry wanted to go into more E-Board roles, as he is graphic designer for PSGA, club head for CAPES, and is part of the Afrodisiac event committee.

“As lead designer, I worked directly underneath the coordinator of public affairs for three semesters, so that was the first choice I went for, it felt like a job that I was qualified for, and I was a member of the relations committee,” said Berry.

Berry would lose the elections for the coordinator of public affairs positions, but didn’t want to give up. “I feel very passionate about this school and its community, and no one ran for vice president, and I really think that I have what it takes to really take a higher leadership role in my senior year," said Berry. "I really want to work on making the school better for the students, clubs and organizations.”  

Nellie Duggan-Haas, who will be the president for the 2025 to 2026 academic year and is currently an E-Board member of CAPES, talks about how she and Berry's partnership will be useful.

“So we know each other very well, and have been working together in the PSGA for a long time," said Duggan-Haas. "Last spring, I was his boss, but in CAPES, he's my boss, so I think that we are good at keeping each other in check, and are not afraid to tell each other when we disagree with something. We also can support each other and we understand how to support each other. I think we understand how to work together to support other people on the board or in the PSGA.”

Berry has already started preparing for the role. “I have started training with Rachael Girsang, the current Vice President. I am attending Service Board, a biweekly meeting where the VP meets with the student directors of the nine services," said Berry. "Currently, Rachael and I are working to hire new service directors for the next school year, as a majority of the current directors are graduating seniors. Hiring is one of the bigger responsibilities of the PSGA VP, so I have been sitting on interviews and studying how she conducts them."

“I'm really excited for him,” said current VP for the PSGA, Rachael Girsang. “He has a lot of experience with the PSGA, knows the ins and outs of the organization. I look forward to training him and helping him out.”

Berry is feeling excited to get into the role, “I’d be lying if I said no part of me was nervous; It’s a big responsibility, and there’s a reason no one else applied both times the job was up for grabs," said Berry. "However, my excitement far exceeds any anxiety. I’ve been preparing for a role like this for so long, and I’m so grateful to be given this chance. I’ve juggled a variety of positions within the PSGA these last four semesters, and each one has brought me so much joy and fulfillment, so I’m positive this won’t be any different in that aspect.”

Berry wants the Purchase students to know that he wants the students' opinions to be heard and that he cares a lot for the Purchase community. “I have seen things done this year that I haven’t agreed with and that I know other students aren’t agreeing with as well. I want the students to know that I will do my part in getting their opinions heard," said Berry. "I just need them to come, whether it's our office hours or at the Senate meetings, and let me hear what they have to say. I want students to give the PSGA a fresh chance to reintroduce ourselves to you next year; Please show up for us so we know how to show up for you.”