Open Letter to the Student Body:
My name is Jackson Smith, and I am running for Vice President of the Student Government Association for the 2015-2016 school year. I am a sophomore Financial Management major from Troy, Tennessee.
Qualifications:
I have served as a member of the SGA for the past two years, aside from a semester that I spent abroad. Here I have really learned how Lipscomb’s student government functions and have found my place in it. I feel that I now understand the system enough to take leadership and help further Lipscomb’s student body in any way I am called to.
Involvement on campus has always been a passion of mine, and the diversity of that involvement is something that I bring to the table in SGA. I am a part of Lipscomb’s Greek Life, the Quest Team and I work for the Admission’s department, but I also am involved in Lipscomb’s jazz and wind ensembles and work a lot with the Athletics Department as well. I believe that these areas of involvement allow me to come in contact with more students than the average person at Lipscomb; therefore, this exposes me to the opinions, complaints and praises of the student body, which can help me to make decisions in the SGA that are the best fit for the people.
My ability to make logical decisions based on a very open-minded perspective is an attribute that makes me a great candidate for Vice President. I have always been the kind of person that strives to look at every perspective when making choices. I have used this rationing when making my votes in SGA over the past two years and will continue be as open-minded when preforming my duties if elected to serve as an executive.
If Elected:
One major issue that I have always been passionate about has been the use of Lipscomb’s student fees. Since every student pays a student fee when coming to school, I feel very motivated to help create opportunities for each student to make the most of the events that their student fees pay for. I know that personally, with my level of involvement, that I probably receive more than I pay in student fees. But I am realistic that not everyone has the time or ability to be as involved, so I want to try my best to create a greater variety of events on campus that reach out to people who don’t normally get to come to events.
A more concrete idea that I would love to pursue is to help to get a water bottle fill station installed in the Student Center, like is in the SAC.
Finally, I will work my hardest to better bridge the gap between students and administration. I feel that the many connections on campus to different groups of students allows me to access a large pool of opinions that can be translated into possible policy changes to administration. There are no huge policy changes that I personally have sought to fight for, but I am very much open to the thoughts of the students.
In conclusion, I would just like to add that I encourage everyone to get out and vote, even if it is not for me. We have been given an awesome amount of input here at Lipscomb and we should make the most of that by voting on Tuesday. I would also like to say how thankful I am for the opportunity of being able to run for Vice President.
God Bless!
Jackson Smith