When incoming Undergraduate Assembly Chairman Seth Schreiberg was three years old, he got into a fight with his mom.
"He just looked at me, said 'I don't want to discuss this anymore' and stomped out of the room," Susan Schreiberg said.
And his stubborn personality has stuck with him since that time -- leading him all the way up to his decisive victory in the UA elections last Wednesday night over Wharton junior Ethan Kay, Engineering sophomore Matt Lattman and College junior Aaron Short.
Next year's tenure as chairman will round out three years for Schreiberg on the UA.
But the path to the head of the largest undergraduate governmental body wasn't always clear. Despite his ad campaign -- which included posters of his face super-imposed onto Mount Rushmore and a dancer in a Ricky Martin video -- Schreiberg failed to gain a spot on the assembly as a freshman.
"Freshman year, I ran and lost," Schreiberg said. "I came in ninth out of 27 people, and I lost by two votes. I remember walking down my hallway, and I was fuming."
Schreiberg tried again his sophomore year and successfully won a spot representing the College of Arts and Sciences. That year, his biggest accomplishment was extending the move-out dates for on-campus housing.
And last spring, Schreiberg was elected to the executive board of the body, serving as treasurer for the past school year.
But beyond the work of the UA, Schreiberg says the highlights of his year were the friendships he made.
"That's when I met Ethan [Kay] and Jason [Levy]," Schreiberg said. "We had a good time. I missed that camaraderie."
And the camaraderie has not gone unfelt by others.
Kay -- the second half of the coined "dynamic duo," who was elected vice chairman last week and had originally considered running for co-chairman with Schreiberg -- sees Schreiberg as a partner and a best friend.
"Seth has been a linchpin to my social life at Penn," Kay said. "I see Seth as... very strong- minded but simultaneously wonderfully sensitive."
But that characterization of Schreiberg has not been universally accepted. He has sometimes been criticized for his abrasive or unapproachable personality.
And Schreiberg says he is willing to work on that -- but only to a certain extent.
"I'm constantly changing my outlook on life, myself and who I personally want to be," Schreiberg said. "But there are so many things a person can say about you. You have to take into account how much they know about me and how much time they've put into getting to know me."
And perhaps his obstinate nature is what the UA needs in its leader.
"Seth will push an issue to his limits, and his assertiveness and inquisitive nature make him an extremely effective leader for the UA," outgoing UA Chairwoman Dana Hork said.
Engineering junior Gautam Mashettiwar -- Schreiberg's successor as UA treasurer -- echoed Hork's sentiments.
"I think Seth was the best treasurer the UA has ever seen," Mashettiwar said.
For Schreiberg, the UA was at its best during the debate over last spring's Campus Copy incident. In April 2001, black Graduate School of Education student Gregory Seaton alleged that he had been passed over for service at the Walnut Street retailer and then attacked by store employees when he protested.
"The UA got very involved with the follow-up to the Campus Copy incident," Schreiberg said. "The meeting was very heated, passionate, and there were so many people in the audience. We were actually doing something to help students."
The Washington, D.C., native says he has also enjoyed the insider's perspective of Penn that he has gained through work on the UA.
"I came from a small private school where I was never lost," Schreiberg said. "It has been a great way to have some really brilliant mentors."
While he may have attended a small school, that did not inhibit Schreiberg from seeing the world. Schreiberg has traveled to the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Spain, Germany, Italy, England, France, Israel, Holland, the Czech Republic and Mexico, among other places.
And in this country, the College junior has had his share of opportunities and achievements.
Schreiberg was a member of his high school's winning Academic Team, as well as captain of the varsity baseball team -- although the team didn't quite match up with Schreiberg's beloved Baltimore Orioles.
"We were crap," Schreiberg said. "We were only good freshman year when I was on JV."
Schreiberg also had the chance to attend the Democratic National Convention last year in Los Angeles and extend his political involvement beyond the university setting. Schreiberg's father was roommates with Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) in the 1970s, and Schreiberg says "we see him around."
Schreiberg will also be the first UA chairman in recent history who is not affiliated with the Greek system.
And beyond everything, Schreiberg has succeeded academically at a very high level.
"Seth and I were playing the genius edition of Trivial Pursuit last summer, and he rattled off the answers to 15 straight questions," Kay said. "He blew us all out of the water. That's indicative of who he is -- that somehow, he just has an innate understanding of everything."
