Last Wednesday, the University officially saw the beginning of a new Student Government administration.
President-elect Brad Golson and Vice President-elect Jenny Byrd were sworn in at a Student Senate meeting, officially signifying the end of the Allen Richey and Jason Wesley administration.
Even though they no longer are in office, remnants of the Richey/Wesley administration can be found on campus and in student activities.
Richey said he thought that for the most part, his administration was pretty successful.
He said he attributes the success of his administration to the idea of cultural change.
Richey said he hopes programs such as recycling, newspapers, bus trips, pajama parties, International cultural week and Diversity Week contribute to student participation.
Richey said he hopes the programs create a culture of participation, not just at the University, but in the world.
Keeping promises
When Richey and Wesley ran for SG president and vice president under the EMPOWER LSU ticket, the two friends found themselves in the run-off election against Jay Buller and Robert Lay.
In an April 9, 2003 Reveille article, Richey said “the issues we have outlined on our pushcard will provide tangible benefits to the lives of every student on campus.”
Some of the issues on the EMPOWER LSU ticket called for the creation of Chats with the Chancellor, expanding the International Expo to a week-long event, preserving the African American Cultural Center and implementing a campus-wide recycling program.
Under the Richey/Wesley administration, all of these things have come to pass.
During the 2003 SG elections, Richey and Wesley promised to make sure the University maintained the autonomy of the Women’s Center and AACC if the facilities were not maintained in the Master Plan.
The Master Plan does not include a place for either building.
While the Master Plan has not changed much, Richey said Chancellor Mark Emmert and Emmet David, director of facility services, have guaranteed that the groups will make a decision corporately before anything happens to the spaces.
The situation is not what people feared five years ago, Richey said.
While Richey and Wesley’s efforts concerning the Women’s Center and the African American Cultural Center are not quite visible to the University’s student body, their other efforts are.
In summer of 2003, blue recycling bins appeared around campus.
Wesley said the money for the recycling program was set aside from the 2001-02 McCune and Garner administration.
Wesley said when it came to implementing the program, the administration had to work with Facility Services in order to create a position for someone to empty the recycle bins. This included finding money to pay the person in charge of emptying them.
He said he is glad SG was able to get the program implemented because students are able to see it.
“We want all students to realize the relevancy of Student Government,” Wesley said.
Along with the recycling program, the administration brought along a chance to interact with Emmert.
“Chats with the Chancellor” is a monthly open forum that allows students to interact with Emmert in a friendly, informal environment. The first “Chat with the Chancellor” was held in September 2003, with the topic of conversation being student fees.
Richey said that after talking to Emmert, he did not think they would have much of a problem getting the chats started.
Wesley said the Chancellor “jumped” all over the chance to have chats with the students.
The Chancellor’s office and Emmert made sure it was a priority, Richey said.
Wesley said “Chats with the Chancellor” began at a time in which there was a lot of controversy over Emmert’s pay raise.
Students saw him in the paper, but they really did not know what he did, he said.
“What better way to talk to head of the University,’ Wesley said. “It was beautiful.”
There has been nearly one “Chat with the Chancellor” each month since September.
Another issue the Richey/Wesley administration dealt with was restoring traditions at the University.
The administration brought back the University’s pajama tradition.
Tradition holds that University upperclassmen used to force male freshmen to wear pajamas to the first pep rally and home football game of the season.
Richey and Wesley successfully reinstated the tradition at the University last fall.
“[We] sold out of pajama pants as quickly as we could get them shipped in,” Wesley said. It was an overwhelming response, with the pants selling out on the first day.
Wesley said they got so many request that he hopes Golson and Byrd continues the pajama pants next year.
The bus trips also were expanded under the Richey/Wesley administration.
Before, the trips only went to Auburn or Alabama, but the fall was the first time the SG had taken the trip to Ole Miss, Wesley said. It also marked the first time the trip sold out in one day.
Wesley credited the success of LSU Tiger football team with helping make the trips successful.
When the administration was not working to reinstate traditions or preserve a groups’ space on the campus, they were working to help educate student about diversity and world events.
Students see an example of this every day when they walk past the library and see the stacks of The New York Times and Washington Post in front of Coates Hall or Middleton Library.
RIchey said SG uses a $50,000 grant from the Chancellor’s Office on subscriptions for the papers.
Wesley said the idea of providing students with free national newspapers has been a success because “it is a practical idea.”
It is the news, it is what is happening around students and it is the world, Wesley said.
The newspapers provide students with another outlet to educate themselves away from the classroom and broadcast news, he said. You do not get headlines and in-depth coverage from broadcast news,
Educating students through newspapers is not the only avenue the administration took to help expose students to the world around them.
One of the top 10 reasons to vote for the EMPOWER LSU ticket was to expand the International Expo to a week of cultural events.
Wesley said long ago he and Richey realized the International Expo was a great event, but it was an event attended mostly by international students.
The International Expo normally took place on a Sunday, he said. Most students are not used to attending a Sunday event.
Wesley said the administration wanted to create a format in which students could showcase their cultures, so they decided to create a week of events that led up to the expo.
He said the idea of an international week is natural, and if the administration wanted to create a “true community,” they needed to have understanding.
Some things came undone, but they moveD on
Despite the successes of the administration, Richey and Wesley were not able to see everything turn out the way they planned.
The Union renovations fight is a sad reminder of this.
For weeks, accusations and revelations of unannounced meetings being held without student representation spurred angry feelings inside the legislative and executive branches.
Now, one of the issues in the fight is space for the Student Government Office and its staff.
At last week’s Student Senate meeting, former Senator Heath Hattaway said the Union renovation proposes giving SG only 1,500 square feet — 38 more than they now have.
Wesley said the ongoing fight will be up to SG and the Golson/Byrd administration, but he will be around to help them with it.
He said the only regret he has is from his time in the Senate.
Wesley said he would have made it mandatory to have all the floor plans for the Union go through the Student Senate for approval.
Richey said his administration was not able to get a health center hotline for students or get the scholarship database off the ground.
Yet, despite these setbacks, Richey and Wesley said they learned a lot from their experience as SG president and vice president.
Wesley said he tells most people the experience has been the largest and most complete learning experience in his life. It has sharpened his leadership skills, and watching new SG Vice President Jenny Bird has helped him with problem-solving.
Both said the executive staff and Senate contributed to their success.
Richey is graduating in May, while Wesley is contemplating a run for a seat on the Metro Council. He will announce his decision Wednesday.