As Matt Williams set foot onto N.C. State’s campus less than two years ago, he recalled a longtime dream: to become the University’s student body president.
Williams thought the dream he cooked up as an elementary school student in Raleigh had been lost in his first year at North Carolina A&T, but he was wrong. Last Wednesday he strolled campus as the student body’s President-elect, and he couldn’t be more eager.
“Once I actually transferred, I thought the dream was over,” Williams said. “I was like ‘You have to be here freshman year if you want to run for student body president, you have to get those connections.’”
Following Wednesday’s results, Williams sat down with one of the people he connected with — Andy Walsh — to discuss his plans for office.
“The first night after I won, me and Andy went out and talked,” Williams said. “So we started the mini-transition process.”
Williams said he will focus on communication between Student Government and all students — most importantly a comprehensive website.
“I think that’s the one thing that can be a lasting legacy for not just students now, but for students in the future to have that place where they can always know what is going on here at N.C. State,” Williams said. “We need something university-run, university-maintained, but mainly run by students.”
Williams said he intends for a universal calendar, University news updates and announcements.
A universal site for students exists, labeled “Current Students” on the University website, but is seldom updated. The goal is to make a website worthy of being the homepage for all students, Williams said.
“Now we just need to work with University Communications and make it happen,” Williams said. “The communication is not where it needs to be when it comes to letting students know everything that’s going on, something like this can help take it to the next level.”
Williams said he hopes to communicate to students more through Technician, WKNC and other on-campus resources so students can hear and be heard.
“To administrators, email is their best friend. We’ve got to break out of that,” Williams said.
Williams said he wants to start “Lunch With the Leaders,” a program where groups of students meet with Student Government leaders in the Brickyard to discuss how to tackle issues on campus within student means.
“I feel like most of the time when student leaders get together now, it’s in a conference room in a meeting,” Williams said. “That’s not how stuff happens.”
Williams said he and his campaign staff began to bawl as the results came in last Wednesday. The end of the campaign was the beginning of a long year.
The election did not come without controversy, but Williams said he made sure not to get involved on either side of Dwayne O’Rear’s Facebook controversy.
“You got a chance to see more of a candidate and [students] made their judgment off of that,” Williams said.
Regardless of the incident’s impact on the election, Williams said he is ecstatic to fulfill his dream.
