The newly elected student body president, and other student officers, were sworn in on Wednesday afternoon in Talley Student Union. The new student leaders discussed diversity, reflected on the past and promised to be a voice for all students.
The new officers include: Student Body President Jackie Gonzalez, Student Body Vice President Mia Connell, Student Senate President Mitchell Moravec, Student Body Treasurer John Taylor Willis and Student Body Chief Justice Jess Hansen.
The inaugural ceremony was brief with opening remarks made by Assistant Director of Student Involvement Jermisha Dodson. Dodson remarked on what a successful school year she believed the previous officers had, before introducing former Student Body President Paul Nolan.
Nolan was reflective in his remarks, discussing the high and low points of his presidency.
“I really do love this place, and I have high expectations for our university’s future and the leadership that’s going to take us there,” he said.
Nolan then went on to discuss what he felt was one of the most difficult parts of his presidency, managing issues pertaining to racial tensions in the fall. He alluded to an incident from September when screenshots of a GroupMe chat laced with racial epithets were posted to the Wolfpack Students Facebook group.
“One of the most difficult times for me was kind of dealing with diversity issues at NC State,” he said. “… We had a couple of weeks where it was tense, where we had media involvement; local news media were fighting with our administrators and were even attacking me personally.”
The former student body president went on to describe his eagerness to see the work of the incoming Student Government leaders and what they will accomplish.
“It’s really in those moments that define you and your leadership style and your character,” Nolan said. “Those moments where you’re by yourself in a moment of reflection. I’m really looking forward to the next generation of Student Government leaders having [their] own introspective moments going forward, and seeing where that takes [them].”
Nolan took time to highlight some of the accomplishments during his administration.
“It’s Student Giving Day today. We did create the department of student philanthropy here at NC State to encourage students to give back and change culture of what giving looks like on our campus,” Nolan said.
Nolan also mentioned Student Government’s desire to raise the student endowment at NC State, as well as its efforts to combat sexual assault with the university’s first “It’s On Us” campaign.
Following Nolan’s remarks, the newly elected officials posed for a photograph with their predecessors and received honorary gavels. All five of the students also gave brief speeches, thanking their friends, families and everyone who helped them on their campaigns.
Connell got emotional during her speech and said that she “wouldn’t have done it” without Gonzalez. She also discussed her excitement in working with other Student Government officials next year.
In her remarks, Gonzalez described the difficulty a woman of color will have in the role of student body president.
“I knew that it was going to be difficult being a woman of color and being in this position and being held to this high regard,” Gonzalez said. “And it’s something that I wanted to do with another woman of color by my side. I couldn’t do it without [Connell].”
The student body president went on to discuss why she ran.
“I didn’t run for myself,” Gonzalez said. “I ran for the other women of color and people of color who feel like they’re not being heard. I ran for disadvantaged students, students who take loans to get through college, students who have jobs while getting a full-time education. And this is a message students stood behind. I’m proud to be the first Latina student body president, and I’m so grateful for this position.”
The event ended with closing remarks by former Student Body Vice President Brayndon Stafford.
In an interview after the event, both Nolan and Stafford remarked that one issue they wish they had handled better was student engagement. But Nolan defended this critique by saying that Student Government has to be a balancing act between engaging and advocating.
“Every second that you spend educating students about advocacy is a second you’re not actually advocating,” Nolan said.
He also mentioned his excitement about Gonzalez being the first Latinx student body president and wished her luck.
“I’m here to advocate for you,” Gonzalez said after being asked about a message she had for the student body. “If there’s anything you feel like I’m not getting … or you have any ideas, absolutely email me. It takes more than one person to run the show.”
Now that the student leaders have been sworn in, they officially begin the 97th session of NC State Student Government, which will last until March 2018.
