With its bright crimson and gold insignia, the new Student Union website premiered on October 1, the result of the Executive Board’s efforts to strengthen relations and communication between the SU and the student body.
The website, which is the brainchild of Publics Relations Officer Yash Sharma and Townsend Harris graduate Nabil Khatri, contains a variety of features, ranging from profiles of SU representatives to a FAQ section.
Club Liaison Karen Su said, “This website will give accurate descriptions for each club’s mission, as opposed to misconceptions heard in a hectic environment like the Club Fair.”
The website’s FAQ section will provide answers to questions that Chief of Student Activities and mathematics teacher Aleeza Widman would otherwise answer. In contrast to the calendar of the Townsend Harris website, a Student Union representative may update the TownsendSU calendar. Lastly, the Contact Us page allows students to submit any comments, questions, or concerns they have to the Board.
Since the website’s earliest stages, the designers planned for it to counter the static nature of the school’s official website. Yash told us that, “TownsendSU is constantly updated, as opposed to thhs.qc.edu, which is barely updated.”
Assistant Principal of Organization, Health, and Physical Education Ellen Fee, said that “The Townsend Harris website was created by an outside company of 20-30 year olds, and does not have the element of high school freshness that Yash and Nabil have created with the SU website.”
After the website went live, the news of its launch spread through social media, Senate reports, and loudspeaker announcements. Yash said that since the launch date, approximately 1000 individuals have visited the website.
Sophomore Snehi Shah remarked that, “It helps students know what to expect, so I think it would help a lot of the incoming sophomores and freshmen.”
Many upperclassmen observed the benefits of the new website to incoming students. Senior Jasmine Teu noted, “if people really actively contribute to the new website, I think it’d be a great way for underclassmen or even prospective students to get a feel for the community here.”
The website has been a subject of the Board’s mass communications initiative for almost a year now, extending as far back as the 2012-2013 Board. Nabil Khatri, the website’s first designer, said that “We got the idea from other schools that had a Student Union website.”
In an effort to preserve the Student Union website, Nabil passed over administrator control to Yash in early August. Nabil commented that, “At that point the website was generally ready to go; what remained was to brand the site for the new year and to add content to it.
Together with TownsendSU.com, the Board plans to broadcast an online series, Hawks On Air, which is set to premiere in early November.
