Our View:We have high hopes for the remainder of this HUSA administration.
Although some students may have been apprehensive about the future effectiveness of the “Turn Your Swag On” edition of the Howard University Student Association during last year’s campaign season, Bryan Smart and Jerome Joseph (executive president and vice president respectively) have given the critics something to consider. During their time in office, the two have made considerable progress on behalf of their student constituency.
One of the current administration’s biggest and most widely publicized contributions to the student body was obviously the student protest this past September. The protest brought hundreds of students to the A-building in an effort to combat the issues plaguing the student body. Although at the time many found the protest unorganized and haphazard, it’s resulted in some definite changes (and steps toward change) on behalf of the studentbody.
In the long run a campus recycling program has been put in place, and a student advisory committee for the Office of Student Financial Services has been established. Substantial strides have been taken in handling more complicated issues, including Howard’s becoming a totally wireless campus, campus housing restoration, and 24-7 access to campus facilities such as Undergraduate and Founder’s libraries and the iLab.
Smart and Joseph also heavily assisted in the major feat of student validation near the student purge period, establishing the “Executive Board Meeting”, which brings together leaders of the black student associations and student leaders both on campus and in the area. Their efforts succeeded in keeping over a thousand students from being purged and having to leave the university.
A major aspect of Smart and Joseph’s campaign was focused on student advocacy; ensuring students had the capabilities to have their issues heard, and subsequently, the ability to have those issues addressed.
With the help of Corey Briscoe, director of student advocacy, the 49th administration has done a pretty outstanding job of fulfilling this campaign promises.
They’ve paid regular visits to all graduate and undergraduate schools, presenting “HUSA On Your Plate” (where they have lunch with students), utilized Facebook and Twitter as a means to actively reach students, established an open door policy, and most impressively, managed the tracking and reply to over five thousand student grievances.
Smart and Joseph wisely kept potentially empty campaign promises to a minimum during last year’s election, and have not only fulfilled (or made significant advancement on) the majority of objectives they outlined in their campaign platform, but also given the student body some unexpected extras, including major progress on the establishment of the Bison OneCard (a comprehensive student card that can be used for anything on and around campus), which will hopefully be in affect by fall, and the Inaugural HBCU Leadership Summit, which is taking place this month on Howard’s campus, boasting student leader visitors from other HBCU’s from across the nation.
However, an issue with 49th administration has been its use of public relations tactics in an effort to reach the student constituency. Students have overwhelmingly expressed a feeling of disconnect from the administration.
Although Smart and Joseph done a high-quality job of making themselves available and addressing student concerns, at times, students have been unaware or uninformed of programs and directives that directly affect them.
The administration has admitted that the PR team hasn’t done the best job thus far, but is making the appropriate adjustments to ensure students are effectively informed this semester.
Our 49th administration of the Howard University Student Association is taking steps toward leaving a tangible and lasting legacy for future students, as well progressively fulfilling the campaign promises they made the student body during last year’s campaign season.
Also, they have done an amazing job of improving student advocacy efforts. We have high hopes for the remainder of the forty ninth HUSA administration.
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