Recently inaugurated student body president and vice president Leah Kania and Aniya Qualls seek to create “positive change” through focusing on three main goals throughout their time in student government office.
These three goals, transportation and accessibility, safety on campus and prolonged communication, were all goals that previous student body presidents and vice presidents focused on. However, due to their relevance, both Kania and Qualls wish to continue focusing on them as this academic year winds down and the next academic year begins.
“These [three goals] are some things that previous presidents and vice presidents have done before us and we think they are still relevant and important, so those were our top three things that we wanted to focus on [during their terms]” Qualls said.
Kania said they both intend to work with various on-campus departments to achieve these three goals.
Departments such as the Office of Accessible Education, the Office of Safety and Security, and BW’s administration were among some of these departments they intend to work with.
“We’ve already had conversations with Interim president Greg Flanik, who is very supportive of the student body and making sure that our voices are heard in meetings where student voices aren’t represented as much,” Kania said.
Even though Kania and Qualls intend to work with a variety of different departments while focusing on these goals, they want to work with students as well.
“We want people to know that we’re there for them, and we just want people to know that if they have questions or if they have concerns, if they have praises or complaints, that they can come to us, and we can send those to the right places,” Qualls said.
While both Kania and Qualls encourage students to communicate with them directly, students can also utilize the feedback form that can be found on the BW student government’s social media and Jacket Connect.
“One of the biggest things that we think is really important is having some data and some statistics about what the students are saying. Especially when it comes to presenting to the board and administration, we want to be able to show them ‘we’ve done the research; we’ve outreached to students,’” Qualls said.
Though both Kania and Qualls will focus on these goals throughout their time in office, they want to assure students that even though they may not directly see any changes taking place, that conversations are happening regarding them.
“Even though you might not see the bulk of what we’re starting happen during our term, we want to start the conversation for these ideas and these initiatives, so that future student body presidents and student body vice presidents can continue that work,” Kania said.
