Student Government Association President Tyler Dugger said he and Vice President Greg Clark are off to a smooth start with their official duties.
Dugger faced a rough start during elections, however, because his running mate dropped out of the elections a week before petitions were due.
Faced with an empty spot on the ball0t, Dugger woke Clark up from a nap at 11:30 p.m. and asked him if he would run for vice president. Then, Clark went on a vacation in the Caribbean with his family and could not participate in the petition process on campus. Even with a chain of unexpected events, Dugger and Clark pulled through the election process and began their duties as SGA president and vice president last week.
The SGA president bridges the gap between students and administrators, Dugger said.
“I look forward to interacting with the great movers on campus,” he said.
Dugger is confident that he and Clark will be able to fulfill all of their promises from their campaign, which included giving students a say in the SGA budget and improve sustainability on campus.
“Our goal is to find ways to empower individual students,” Dugger said.
However, Clark worries a little about his promise to push for the removal of the intervisitation policy.
“I fear that members of Concordia’s administration are not ready,” Clark said. “Students want that to happen, and it needs to happen. Once we reach that point, there’s no turning back.”
Both Dugger and Clark are political science majors. Dugger also has a history major. Clark said his greatest political influence is James Madison because of his work, “The Federalist Papers.” Dugger admires Robert Kennedy as a role model for what public life should be like.
Junior Anthony Eddleston lived with Dugger for two years as roommates. He described Dugger as an intelligent, driven person.
“He has very strong ideas about what he believes,” Eddleston said. “He doesn’t sway one way or the other.”
Dugger admitted that he will face challenges during his tenure as student body president. He said he has noticed that students do not care as much about SGA’s initiatives on campus.
Dugger plans to continue town hall meetings next year, but he also intends to give students more authority. One way that he will do this is by allowing students the chance to determine how their student activity fee is distributed for different funds. He said he will have to sell the idea of student government to the student body.
Times will change when Dugger and Clark return to campus next fall. Their predecessors will no longer be around to help. Additionally, the college will have a new president and a new freshman class.
Dugger is not worried about the coming challenges or the investment of time his job will require.
“Those who believe themselves capable have the responsibility to run,” Dugger said. “We’d do it for free.”
I am a senior print journalism and global studies major. My passion for journalism stems from a desire to bring the world to the reader. I train actively in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai boxing. I live on coffee and Diet Coke. On a beautiful day, you might find me riding my motorcycle around town.
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