Portrait of a president

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Moran_Ryan.jpg” caption=”MSU president Ryan Moran. Photo by Susan Bubak.”]From making cotton candy with McMaster University president Peter George to competing in a pasta-eating contest with a local politician, a day in the life of MSU president Ryan Moran is anything but ordinary.

With a bust of Elvis sitting on his bookshelf and a dartboard hanging on his wall, Moran's office looks more like a bachelor pad than an office, but appearances can be deceiving. Moran is all business when it comes to representing almost 19,000 undergraduate students at McMaster.

“I attend regular meetings with university administrators and maintain positive relations with them,” he says. In addition to serving as an advocate for students' needs and interests on campus, he's also trying to build bridges between students and the surrounding community.

Last summer, the MSU launched a program called Project Watchdog, which monitors student houses and rental units in the community to ensure that property standards are being met.

Moran is no stranger to student politics. Before being elected as MSU president, he served as the student union's vice-president administration, which introduced him to the inner working of the MSU and the University.

His foray into extra-curricular activities began in his second year at McMaster. He got involved with the Society of Off-Campus Students, the Silhouette student newspaper and the Student Representative Assembly.

He encourages McMaster students to get involved with the MSU.

“The MSU is so broad,” he says. “It's up to them to take the initiative to follow their own interests and get involved in services, the political side of the MSU or clubs.” The MSU also employs more than 200 students during the school year.

So what's next for Moran after his term ends? After graduating with a BA in political science, theatre and film last spring, he says grad school might be in his future. But like most students, Moran has too many options to choose from.

“That's still a bit up in the air,” he says.