FSU Voice

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Ashley Smith

Media Credit: Ashley Smith

On April 17, the student government held elections to determine the university's student leaders for the 2008-2009 academic year. In the battle for Student Body President, James Jefferson came out victorious against Matthew Wynne. Jefferson, who is a member of the Epsilon Zeta chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, served previously as Vice President of SGA.

Jefferson has a large task ahead of him. During his administration, he will face issues such as fee increases and parking problems. Luckily, the exiting president, Clifford Parker, has left the Student Government in pretty good condition. However, SGA is still plagued by disorganization in the Student Senate, and have failed to meet students' expectations in the past.

"It is one of SGA's strategic goals to make sure that students are aware of what the student government association is and what it is doing for them," says Jefferson. "We want SGA to be a force next year."
Along with his goals to make SGA a more powerful organization next year, President-elect Jefferson is also monitoring developing issues like the parking situation at Fayetteville State. He says that a short-term fix to the parking problem is already established because, as of next year, freshmen won't be able to have a car on campus. He says that this should cut down on some of the parking problems. "Eventually, SGA and the administration will have to sit down and develop a long-term plan to fix the parking problem," he says.

Some students have claimed that Fayetteville State doesn't do enough to bring the entire student body together or cater to all groups at FSU. "FSU has an interesting campus dynamic because out of our 6,700 students, the majority of them happen to be commuters," says Jefferson. "Commuters usually go to class and go home, or go to class then go to work. There needs to be a plan to increase campus engagement. This is something that may be done in one year, or the next year," he says.
Jefferson contends that his primary goal is to serve the student body. "SGA isn't here to serve ourselves, or just the student leaders," he says. "We're here to serve the student body."

One of the negative issues that has surrounded the student government over the past couple of years has been the poor turnout at the annual Stand & Deliver leadership conference. The conference this year cost over $25,000 and had a turnout of a little more than 40 people for the majority of the conference. Turnout for the keynote speaker was a bit larger, but still nowhere near what it should be for that amount of money. President-elect Jefferson believes that the conference is "a great initiative." He says that for next year's conference the student government must "advertise early and hard, and find more of a household name speaker that students can relate to."

"We need to make sure that student funds are being used properly," he says. As far as the strategic goals for his administration, Jefferson wants "to improve the quality of campus life, make students knowledgeable of the resources around them, and get the administration to be in tune with student needs," he says. "In general, I want Fayetteville State University to be better academically, socially, and responsibly than it was when I came here in the fall of 2005 when I leave in May 2009."

Only time will tell how history will judge Jefferson's administration. One thing is for certain; it is about time that Fayetteville State has a student government that is truly looking out for the students, instead of being preoccupied planning parties and events.

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