The Associated Students of Pomona College finalized its decision to hire Alexander Rudy ’11 as the next Commissioner of Communications on Tuesday.
Rudy, former editor-in-chief and current web editor of The Student Life newspaper, edged out five other well-qualified applicants for the position, through a decision process that ASPC President Jed Cullen described as difficult.
“We were debating quite a bit,” said Cullen, “but finally reached what I think was a good choice.”
Rudy said he hopes to use his new position to make student media more unified, through the use of the internet.
“I want to work on cohesion and cooperation among media groups on campus,” he said, “especially online. I think we could have a thriving online collaborative media community among our many talented organizations.”
Rudy added he wants to lend his web expertise to the ASPC.
“I … intend to make the ASPC website more informative,” he said, “with frequent updates and relevant content consistently posted for the student body.”
Rudy will fill the vacancy left by Than Volk ’10, who resigned the previous Monday in order to focus on redesigning the ASPC website, some areas of which are still “under construction.”
“I felt I could add more value to the ASPC by redesigning its website rather than serving as Communications Commissioner,” said Than of his resignation.
In his role as commissioner, Than helped bring Girl Talk to campus, initiated discussions on the Metate and posting policy, and brought the “Amazon program” to Pomona. The program gives the ASPC 8% of money spent on Amazon purchases bought through a link on the ASPC site, and has generated over $1,000 so far.
Than will submit a proposal to the ASPC to be hired as one of their web designers. If he gets the position, he will work closely with Alex to launch the new site.
“The site probably wouldn’t be done until close to the end of the semester,” said Volk.
The Communications Commissioner position, though influential, requires a great deal of work, said Cullen.
As chair of both the Student Media and Speaker Committees, the Communications Commissioner is responsible for Pomona’s online media, print media, broadcast media, yearbook, and distinguished speakers
“The Commissioner’s role, even without one’s pet projects, is just an enormous one,” Cullen said.