Written by Alexandra McClain
This spring, as is the tradition at Harding, the student body voted for Student Association officers for the upcoming year. Fortunately, this year’s election was far less complicated than last. Senior finance major Steven Ramsey won the SA presidency with 52 percent of the 1666 votes over opposing candidates John Dollen and Nik Arezina.
During his campaign for the SA presidency, Ramsey focused on his desire to create smaller groups to focus on individual passions. By delegating to smaller groups, he believes more will get done and he will be a more effective leader.
An important part of the small groups is to work around the timetable of the group, not Ramsey’s personal timetable.
“The initiative will come from the small groups and the path that they think is best and on the timetable they think is best for them,” Ramsey said. “That way things are more compatible, not based on what works for me but what’s good for them.”
Ramsey wants to get the student body more involved. Involving more students in the SA seems to be a goal for each new SA president, but Ramsey has a plan to make it happen.
“One idea I have for next year is a visible idea wall, like the prayer wall from the fall,” Ramsey said. “If it’s visible, people can look at it and think, ‘Oh, that’s good,’ and contribute with ideas of their own.”
Ramsey also wants to involve students who don’t have an elected office. He feels that the more students who have ideas and contribute to the SA, the better tenure he will have as president.
“More ideas can come about through action and word of mouth from those who don’t hold an elected office,” Ramsey said. “I’m also open to ideas on how we can get more ideas.”
He wants to have a forum in the fall where students come and make suggestions for what the SA can do.
“My ideal way of doing it is going to McInteer 150 and just filling up the board with ideas, then from there we can work on how to make the ideas work,” Ramsey said.
As students who were in chapel April 5 will remember from Ramsey’s impromptu rendition of “Jai Ho,” one of his goals is to make each Thursday’s announcement chapel more interesting.
“I would like Thursday chapel to be something that people look forward to coming to and the announcements that are made get noticed,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey believes the more entertaining announcement chapel can be achieved through humor, videos and sometimes seriousness.
Also pertaining to announcements, he plans to make sure the bulletin boards in the student center are regularly maintained and become less cluttered and more inviting to look at.
Ramsey plans to do three major projects a semester, combining service and fun, much like the past fall’s Texas vs. The World competition to raise money for Christine Collins.
Ramsey wants to make the front lawn a hub for entertainment.
“A festival on the front lawn when it’s warmer (is in the works) where people can sit around, play guitar and banjo, maybe bagpipes, who knows what will be out there,” Ramsey said. “We can cook out, and people tell stories, and it’ll be a fun time for people from different circles to come together and enjoy the good weather.”
He wants to try the cookout once in the fall and, if it goes well, again in the spring.
“If it goes well and people like it, maybe even more than that, we’ll do it multiple times,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey said he has wanted to get tables for the front lawn since his freshman year and is now in the position to do that.
“I think picnic tables in certain places, not out in the middle of the field, will be good,” Ramsey said. “When the weather gets good, people want to eat on the front lawn, so a few picnic tables with trash cans beside them should go over well.”
He wants to make more students involved in fall staple events like the Harding lectureship. By involving more students outside the Bible department, the generational gap between students and lectureship attendees will hopefully be bridged.
Ramsey is also looking for ways to involve students in the World Mission Workshop this fall. This workshop began on Harding’s campus in 1961 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in the fall with the theme, “So That We May Have Life.”
Expanding club involvement on campus is another goal of Ramsey’s for the upcoming year.
“I have big ideas for making clubs more developed overall, more than just sports and loyalty, but how clubs can make each other better people, hold one another accountable,” Ramsey said.
Ramsey’s fellow officers for the 2010-2011 school year are vice president Jong Hwa Lee, secretary Amanda Harren, treasurer Timothy Harless, senior men’s and women’s representatives Ryan Taylor and Cassandra Searcy, junior representatives Logan Callier and Claire Walker, and sophomore representatives Jay Hemphill and Sarah Beth Ivey.
For more information about the Harding Student Association, visit the SA Web site at www.harding.edu/sa.
