Hi all,
I got an interesting question from someone at the fine Uptown establishment at which my friend and I were relaxing yesterday evening--why do you want to run for President? While the topic is something I've put a ton of thought into, I realized that I'd yet to discuss the issue specifically in public. I thought this post would be a good venue for me to discuss the two main reasons why I wanted to run for President: impact and ability.
Impact: By impact, I mean making a difference. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on SGA in my year as VP, it’s that one person can really change things at Loyola. The process may be long, tiring, frustrating. The results may not be seen immediately, but may be more gradual over time than most people would like. But one person can absolutely change things at this University. I’ve seen this happen with countless projects and initiatives at the University this year. Certain student leader, particularly Senior Greek student leaders, continued to push graduation site to the top of the President’s agenda. And even if they did not get the result they desired most greatly, their work resulted in a much improved set of festivities for Seniors around graduation. I’ve seen how a small, dedicated group of people could make an organization—the Muslim Students Association—that technically represents a very small percentage of the student population into one of the most active, popular groups on campus. I’ve seen the ability of people on Congress to keep certain issues on the agenda—from lack of communication with the College of Music and Fine Arts, to the run-down facilities of Cabra, Thomas, and Buddig Hall, to the absence of sufficient computers in the Chemistry Lab—purely by bringing them up over and over. They all got results.
Through my own work on SGA, I’ve discovered how one person can change a whole institution. As Vice President, my primary job was to be in charge of Congress—to ensure that Congresspeople actually worked hard at and completed a commitment project that in some way benefited students. In my previous two years on Congress, I had encountered a real lack of communication between the Vice President and Congresspeople. In my freshman year, I was lost as to what my job was on Congress.
So I made the active decision to communicate much in a more frequent and friendly way in order to push Congresspeople to do their commitments. And a funny thing happened after I began meeting with Congresspeople for the second and third times—they would have updates for me on their ongoing projects! There was a significant culture shift within Congress from slacking off and getting by without doing a project, to actually working hard at a project. Congresspeople forced through changes in the University that helped students.
In my time as VP, I have both observed others and seen myself making big differences at the University as only one person. The President of SGA has the unique chance to make an even bigger impact on behalf of the students, because he or she is in so many important meetings that decide things from tuition to curriculum to University planning to physical facility changes.
In working as Vice President and watching the President this year, I realized that I have the skills to do a great job as President: my ability to both listen to people and to speak up for what I believe in. I know this stuff may sound overly vague and sort of Guidance-class-ish, but I think this really will help you understand why I think I’d be a great President.
First, my ability to listen to people. I don’t see listening to people as just hearing what they have to say, and then saying my opinion. I’ve learned through participation in my Political Science and English classes, as well as debate in Congress, the ability to actually take other people’s opinions into account when creating my own. I do not just get blindly set in my ways and block out anyone who disagrees. For example, all during this past year, Congresspeople would come into the SGA office with a variety of ideas as to what their commitments should be. I would always have a list of commitment ideas for that particular Congressperson. But instead of just imposing an agenda on 30 representatives, I worked with each and every representative to figure out a project that both made them happy to work on and made life for students on campus better. My ability to listen to people will open up SGA to all other students on campus. I truly take all opinions into account before forming my own.
At the same time, though, once I’ve thought through an issue and figured out on which side I fall, I am steadfast in standing up for what I believe in. On the example of Congresspeople’s projects, for example, there were multiple times this year when a Congressperson proposed funding and running party programming through SGA, or simply came into my office without any ideas. I would not let Congresspeople do projects that did not greatly take advantage of SGA resources in order to make student life better. Likewise, I stood up for the students in all sorts of administrative meetings, from meal-plan meetings with Director of Student Activities Chris Cameron to Pathways meetings with the Board of Trustees. Sometimes, like on the meal plan, I was able to work out a reasonable compromise for the students. Other times, like on Pathways, the other side in the meeting refused to change their minds on the issues. Likewise, I did not change my mind on the fact that cutting those specific programs was an unsound decision. I have stood, and will continue to stand, my ground on the issues that really matter.
Bob Payne
No comments:
Post a Comment