Pictured above: USF Student Body President Julia Cunningham (left) and Vice President Jillian Wilson share core Student Government initiatives for the fall semester.
Courtesy of Jillian Wilson
By Isaiah Sterling
Student Government (SG) President Julia Cunningham and Vice President Jillian Wilson said they are committed to practicing transparency in an interview with The Crow’s Nest.
Wilson said SG has always tried to “put up a perfect face.”
“SG is imperfect, and we make mistakes,” Wilson said. “I never want students to feel like they can’t come to us with matters that are important.”
Wilson suggested some students may think SG is a high entity that is unreachable.
“I don’t want that to be the case. I want students to feel that we are approachable, and they can come talk to us anytime,” Wilson said.
She said SG never wants “things” to exist behind closed doors.
“We never want it to seem like we cannot talk about what we are doing because that is not what SG stands for. We stand for letting students know what we are doing at all times,” Wilson said. “Even if it is not perfect — we want students to be a part of the organization every step of the way and see that we are trying to better our student body.”
Cunningham cited transparency through communication as an early campaign promise.
“One of the things we ran during the election was increased transparency and to let students know what we are working on. We are taking a multi-faceted approach to that,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said SG is utilizing social media and working with other student organizations to keep students informed.
“Working with student organizations gives us an outlet to speak to students and let them know who we are, what we are working on and how to get involved in our USF community,” Cunningham said.
Wilson said SG is also focused on sexual assault awareness, recycling initiatives, on-campus food insecurities and encouraging students to get the COVID-19 vaccine this semester.
“This month, we are pushing a COVID-19 vaccine competition between USF student government and the University of Central Florida’s student government. It’s a friendly school rivalry where we want to see who can get vaccinated and upload more vaccine cards,” Wilson said.
Cunningham said SG has also partnered with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and university police to ensure USF is continuing its promise of diversity and inclusion.
“We are working with Tampa leadership to begin conversations with university police on all three campuses to ensure officers have proper training and that they know how to creative a safe community at USF for students,” Cunningham said.
According to Cunningham, some students may not feel comfortable with campus police.
“There are a lot of students of color who do not feel safe with police presence on campus,” Cunningham said. “We are trying to do everything we can to address those concerns and ensure students feel safe.”
Both student leaders said they recognize that they are an example for students during the pandemic.
“One of the ways we have encouraged students to be COVID-19 cautious is requiring masks at all of our SG events,” Cunningham said.
Wilson said SG leadership aims to ensure most events stay virtual.
“We mainly do social media, and we are trying to keep things virtual,” Wilson said. “When we do in-person events, we make sure we are following proper protocol to keep ourselves and students safe.”
Cunningham and Wilson encouraged students to get involved by attending weekly SG meetings via Microsoft Teams.
More information on meeting times and student Government can be found via the SG website.
