On the eve of the 2011-2012 Student Government Association elections, a look back into this year’s presidency and board members and their affect on Grambling’s campus is a must. Lamark Hughes is this year’s SGA president, and William Burge, his running mate, is vice president.
Hughes was elected by the student body to be the forefront of Grambling State University, to not only be at the cutting edge of the future, but also to look out for the best interests of the students and to aide in preparing them for life after college as well.
“The 2010-2011 SGA administration should prove to be a very productive and efficient team,” said Hughes.
It is my desire as SGA President to continue to build upon our motto of excellence through service as we strive to promote the general welfare of our student body,” added Hughes as he discussed his hopes for his reign as SGA president.
It has always been the intentions of the president and his cabinet to fulfill the expectations they have outlined in their platform, in which they were elected.
However, do they actually succeed in doing so is the question?
“I commend Hughes for sticking to his platform, said graduate student, Justin Navarre.
“I respect him because he delivered what he promised, instead of telling the student body lies just to get votes, like past presidents have done.”
Hughes’ campaign was geared toward the beautification of GSU’s campus by promoting and facilitating a waste reduction and recycling program in order to cut down on the trash around campus.
In the past, the trash on-campus had been an eye sore not only to students, faculty and staff, but also a blunder to potential students.
In an effort to turn this negative into a positive, trashcans were placed in various areas of the campus.
Therefore, instead of throwing trash anywhere and everywhere, a trashcan was put in place for those individuals with the laissez-fare attitude of throwing trash on the ground.
Although these strides were taken to improve the look of the campus, the university had greater problems to tackle.
GSU hit some hard realizations of what the future might or might not entail within this past year. The low-completer programs placed a lot of students and faculty questioning themselves and most importantly the university.
Budget cuts were also another hard-hitting factor that affected the campus. And with the students still without a state-of-the-art library budget cuts is a tough blow to deal.
According to Justin Madden, junior class senator, administration has set aside over $20 million to build a new library.
“In these economic times, keeping GSU’s doors open was the focus of Hughes and his cabinet,” said Madden.
“They understand the issues faculty and students have with administration and worked hard to resolve all of those issues to their best ability.”
It is never a certainty what issues leaders on our campus may face in this ever-changing world, but it does take much effort to do what they do on a daily basis.
The concerns of the student body do not fall upon deaf ears for it is the mission of presidents and their cabinet to bridge the gap between students and administration to solidify one union, one entity and ultimately one dream.
A dream that only makes “the place where everybody is somebody” a better place for all.
Students can only hope that on the eve of elections that the newly elected will continue to raise the bar in attempts to keep GSU at the forefront of what historically Black institutions should be.