Serving in office was an honor

Government, in the eyes of philosophers and fools alike, is designed to benefit the minority. The clause of protection that our federal charter seems to grant its people is intended to benefit those who need the benefit. Student government, however, is only acceptable when it benefits every single student on the campus it seeks to govern.

Somehow or another, the blessed/broken road led me to the greatest job on the flagship's campus - our 93rd SGA president. Since my days as the little chief of staff to more recently as president, I have worked to transform this student organization I inherited into a government that not only stands for students but stands by students as well. I did this with the recognition of our place in the minds of students. Joe Sophomore doesn't expect us to stop tuition hikes or get unfair professors put in line, but darn it, it should always be our job to try. Student government matters not because of its authority, but because of its ability.

Sometimes groups or people on campus have so much pride in themselves that they forget their path - my beloved student government has been guilty of this before. I have found that, no matter how hard one who has this mentality of always being fired upon tries, he only makes the process more convoluted when he attempts to rectify the situation through self deprecation. Because of this, I am forced to believe this reaction occurs due to our worship of tradition.

Indeed our tradition is a great source of pride on campus (and I revere it constantly), however it is at the same time a burden. It is through this realization that I have determined that a true UA student is one who values tradition like one values a grandparent - with respect but a constant refusal to make mistakes already made. A UA student is one who acts with humility and equity. Capstone students see themselves as no different than the guy or girl sitting next them in English 101.

So, this has been a year of great empowerment for our students. We have been able to look into the eyes of city leaders to remind them that there are 25,580 of us and counting and our voice matters. We have sent Internet without wires through some of our campus' oldest spaces. We established a philosophy of protection for student rights and empowered ourselves to fight for those rights. We have created a voice that is listened to in the halls of our state government and we have made textbooks more affordable. We have empowered students to make themselves and those that they care about safer. We have revolutionized the way students buy, sell, trade and use their athletics tickets. We have done everything that we said that we would and then some when nobody expected us to even be here in the first place.

Because of the medium and because I want to, I need to thank Crimson White Editor Mike Faulk for writing a newspaper that reflects the campus community for what it is and what it values. One of the first times I met Mike was in 2005 during a sad little counseling session called by an administrator between The CW and the SGA. I sat opposite Mike. I was bound and determined, and I secretly have always assumed that Mike was too, from that point to give the students something to care about and not something to fight about.

There will never be a time when The CW or any student tells the SGA that it is fully relevant and there never should be. There is no perfection in government but the closest thing that it can arrive to is a constant visible, and daring effort toward that goal.

In the end, I will look back at my time at the University with fondness and pomp and say that I worked with people like Jesse Woods, Robert Witt, Julia James, Tim Neunzig, Emily Crawford, Daniel Odrezin, Will Nevin, Bethany Powe and so many others that care so deeply for this state and nation. Though it may be trite and overused, I need to tell you what an honor this has been for me. I love this University and I owe you for all that I have been given.

Fight on, fight on, friends, and God save our University.