Kadee Jo Ransom reflects on a year of student-centered change and unfinished goals.
As Student Government Association President Kadee Jo Ransom’s term comes to a close, she says this year was defined by a major shift: bringing SGA closer to actual student goals. She also speaks about achieving long-standing aspirations, like establishing a fall break, the importance of rebuilding trust in university administration and hopes for the new SGA president and vice president in continuing student-centered change.
What went well this year?
“I think our connection with students was our biggest change from the past.” She continued saying that, in past years, “we were very focused internally, and we worked a lot with each other, but we didn’t really connect with students as often and I think we were able to start changing that this year. We did a lot more events that were student focused.”
What events stood out to you?
“TU Thrift has such a special place in my heart. We just started it last year, and this year we beat our record of people that attended in just 20 minutes. We hit 130 people in the first 20 minutes. That event is one of my favorites because it’s a lot of work on our end, logistics and coordinating donations and everything, but just getting to see students enjoy it was one of the greatest feelings ever. And then, we took a couple boxes of donations over to Family Children’s Services. That event in general is such a good example of getting to do something that directly impacts students. It was really, really awesome.”
What has been your experience working with the student body?
“It has been so amazing. I personally really enjoy [meeting] people outside of what I would typically do.” She then added, “I’ve learned much more about engineering this year than I ever thought I would. It kind of showed me how different the different parts of campus can be, and how important it is to make sure that you’re aware of how different things are in Oxley [versus] Lorton Hall.”
What has been your experience working with administration?
“I feel like it can kind of only be described as a roller coaster. I did start off meeting with the previous administration, before we got our interim president and our new provost and all of that. At first I was really, really scared because I thought that I was like a 20-year-old girl, and what did I know? But then I realized that they’re people just like I’m a person, and we both have the goal of making TU better. … We were able to do so much with them.” Ransom then cited the creation of the artificial intelligence “committee with students and faculty,” adding, “that was amazing. It was amazing to see how all the bureaucratic stuff on the back end was turned into something that’s really going to benefit students. It was really, really cool.”
What do you wish would have gone better this year?
“I really do wish we [could have passed] the constitution this year. That was a big thing we really wanted to work on, and we were able to get it approved by the Board of Trustees. That is definitely something that myself and Beckham [Schell], our outgoing vice president, have been really adamant in training the next vice president and president on. Like, please do not repeat our mistakes — just not getting it early enough to the board, not being as proactive about getting all these issues fixed and things like that. We’ve really tried to set that up for them so that they don’t run into the same issues next year.”
What was one of your most difficult decisions this year?
“This is a decision that I think was pretty internally focused, but I had the first presidential veto that we’ve had in like six years. … It [concerned] a bill that I really disagreed with, and I also felt like we just didn’t have time to accurately talk it out beforehand. … After I did veto it, I was able to sit down with the person who wrote it and we had an hour and a half long meeting. We completely changed everything, but it came to be passed completely unanimously in Senate, and now it’s led to our OHIO project,” or Organization Highlight Initiatives for Opportunities project, “that we’ve had going on. For students, it looks like having student [organization] highlights in our newsletter. It’s been fun getting to see them [recruit] more members and then be able to promote themselves better. It’s been really, really cool.”
What issues do you believe still need attention from SGA moving forward?
“The biggest thing is student org funding. I think a majority of students can agree that that’s something that we want to improve upon. I’ve been working a lot with Bruce [Bigler], the incoming president, to make sure that we have some plans in place to improve that for next year. … I’ve been a very big proponent of being able to point to how anything we are doing is benefiting students. … But I think the direct impact on students needs to be the focus. A big thing I really tried to do this year, and I think I started the process, but definitely fell short in a lot of [ways], was just making sure that I never committed to a project without being able to say ‘this is how it’s going to help students and here’s how it’s going to impact them directly.’ … I really hope [Bigler and Architt Dash] can build on everything we’ve been able to do and make it [truly] student-centered and student-focused.”
What projects do you feel were most telling of your time here?
“One of them was fall break. That was actually a project I started with our current [Constituent Engagement Committee] chair, Kanyinsola [Ogundele]. … That has been a multi-year thing we’ve been working towards. I think that it can sound kind of silly, like, oh, we just got days off of school. But actually, when we were figuring out where to put it, we put it during the time when we see the highest rates of Timely Care reports, the highest rate of people going to [Counseling and Psychological Services], a decrease in students attending office hours and class and where we saw the biggest drops in grades. We positioned [the break] to make sure we were hitting those students who really start to struggle with their mental health at that point. … Obviously I will never get to enjoy it, but it … was really, really cool to see it finally happen. Everyone told us it wasn’t going to, and we fought for it.
Also our service day project, though that was one I didn’t have as much of a hand in. It was one of my cabinet members. But we had some of the best attendance we’ve had at service day, and the response from the community partners was incredible. They were so amazed at how [dedicated] the TU students were.
The other project that I’m proud of was the State of the University event. … This year, we felt like it was important because we had a completely different administration than we had in May. We understood that trust in administration was something that had to be built back up. And I liked the thirty minutes before the event started when it was just students talking with the provost and the president and the dean. … It was a really cool moment to watch students realize that they’re just people like us. They’re not scary people sitting in their offices. They’re real humans.”
Ransom speaking at the end-of-the-year SGA banquet. Photo by Hoi Nei Haokip
Who do you want to be remembered as?
“I want people to think that I was a friend to them. … I really try to focus on relationship building and getting to know people and their life story. … And so I think if I could have one thing that people remember me by, it’s being a friend and being there for [people], and really caring.”
Is there anything else you want to say?
“I do want to say that I’m really excited about [SGA]. Our publicity is on the up and up. I think people are starting to like us more again. I’m really excited to just see, now that I’m graduating, the way that it continues to grow. Like when I started this, [Student Activities Board] was not a thing that existed. Things looked completely different. … But seeing the change that [SGA] has gone through and seeing the way it’s becoming so much more student focused … I’m really excited to see the culture shift around students seeing our value and also making ourselves more valuable to the students. So I can’t wait to see it as an alumni on the other side.”
