The elections are coming along again, and according to the nominations meetings, there were no females interested in the running for the Student Government Association presidency. The spring 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 elections were and will be male presidents. But the past three presidents before then were all women. Many people have questioned if a woman could hold a high position such as president, but for three years straight, young ladies have proved so.
Whitney Moore-White is the immediate former Student Government Association president for the 2007-2008 school year. The California native majored in psychology and graduated from Grambling State in spring 2008.
While serving the student body, Moore-White was an active member of the Favrot Student Union Advisory Board, the Society of Distinguished Black Women, and was the president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
After graduation, she returned to California to work as a senior residential counselor at a group home for teenagers with a population of approximately 50 residents. She also supervises other residential counselors and will be a full-time student in the fall. She plans to continue her education at California State University-Dominguez Hills for her master’s degree in public administration.
Like all SGA presidents, Moore-White dealt with the issues between the students and the administration and had to find a common ground between the two to satisfy everyone.
“My highlights as president were to collaborate with my cabinet on many events, such as the dorm walks and town hall meetings,” Moore-White said. “We also spent a lot of time together reviewing, revising and passing the SGA constitution.
“I liked the interaction with the administration when we held meetings to address the students concerns that were brought to the SGA’s attention. I also had an open line of communication with the staff at The Gramblinite.”
Upon leaving her position as SGA president and leaving GSU, Moore-White wishes that she had tried harder to ignite passion in the hearts of the student body that she served, opposed to being discouraged when the load got heavy.
Her term was enjoyable, but she believes her time would have been much more appreciated if she was mentoring and teaching students about the SGA and the major points of the university. She feels that students would have been more passionate for the school if she had done so. The students need a mentor or a student representative to inform them about what is going on with the campus, she said.
“My final semester in SGA was not easy, and my advice to the new officers is to do their best to stay encouraged and find means by which they can sensibly balance work and school,” Moore-White states to the new SGA administration.
“Do not overextend yourself,” she said, “and learn to say no.”
As that year ended, many students would remember Whitney Moore-White as a nice and kind-hearted person who never closed her ears to the voices of the student body.