As SG President Emeritus Taylor Cox finished his term this week, The Daily Reveille looked back at his campaign promises, what initiatives he accomplished and which remain incomplete.
During his administration, Cox completed a total of 35 initiatives.
Five promised initiatives, however, remain incomplete.
Those four initiative include partnering with off-campus student housing to promote sustainability, advocating for double-sided printing, tracking priority points on myLSU, creating a miniature meal plan for students and lobbying against budget cuts.
Cox explained why some initiatives were so difficult to complete.
He said the off-campus student housing recycling program cost too much.
“We went to our director of sustainability on campus and they loved this idea,” Cox said. “But what they told us was that it is too costly to provide recycling services to every off-campus housing units.”
When it comes to double sided printing, Cox said a contract was signed to purchase new printers before they could explore other options.
Cox said there are several printers on campus that print double-sided, but not as many as he would have liked.
An initiative that is in progress but currently incomplete is tracking priority points on myLSU accounts.
Cox said when he tried to create a miniature meal plan for students, he was “stopped in his track.”
He said the University food services are contracted with an outside company, which has made it difficult to get miniature meal plans on campus.
He said the company told him they essentially already have a miniature meal plan, the commuter plan.
Since the University is still struggling through a budget crisis, The Daily Reveille classifies lobbying against budget cuts as in progress.
Cox said a few of the 35 completed initiatives that he is most proud of include the new phone chargers, Moodle grade notifications, the University Recreation renovation planning and the new night bus expansion to Ben Hur Road.
Cox also discussed the struggles and successes he has faced as SG president.
“One of the biggest struggles for me, has been trying to please people in every facet,” Cox said.
He said never wants to let down the students that he has served, but it has been difficult to realize that he couldn’t please everyone all the time.
“What has gotten me through this year is knowing that your reputation is only a moment of your life, but your character is forever,” Cox said.
He said every former SG president is different, but he feels that he and his Vice President Carrie Hebert brought something different to SG.
“In some ways, I don’t fit the typical SG mold,” Cox said.
He said he ran to stand up for students who felt under-represented, like the LGBTQ community.
Cox said one moment that made him realize the need for someone to stand up for these students was when a piece of legislation was vetoed be a former SG President Cody Wells.
“Spectrum had a senator write a piece of legislation for a LGBTQ month, which a previous president did not sign off on,” Cox said. “I felt like those students people were so sad, because their student leaders weren’t standing up for them and their voices weren’t being heard.”
Cox said he was thankful to the students of the University for giving him the chance to be SG president.
“I just want to say to students, thank you for giving Carrie and I the opportunity to serve in this position,” Cox said.
Cox had one last message to the student body.
“Be who you are, be proud of who you are, do what you believe is right and take a chance to be somebody,” Cox said.
“What has gotten me through this year is knowing that your reputation is only a moment of your life, but your character is forever.”
