Williams Adminstration | Graphic by Dylan Collison | The Wright State Guardian
Student Government Association (SGA) President Adrian Williams and Vice President Joseph York were elected into office in 2020. Though the administration began in the middle of a global pandemic and social uproar, SGA has continued to make changes for the better.
Work in the past years
Williams has been involved with SGA his entire college career. He has served as vice president twice before being elected president and believes his work has carried over through the years.
“I was more focused on larger-scale projects that are now coming to completion. I’ve been working on them for two-plus years, so I take a lot of pride in them,” said Williams.
The Retain the Nine Task Force advocated for establishing the retention office along with creating an endowed scholarship for minority students at Wright State University (WSU).
The Retain the Nine Scholarship aims to support three minority students each year. Williams hopes that the funding will reach its goal of $10,000 minimum in order to last as long as it can for students. The link to the donation website is linked here.
The current administration
SGA is working on completing the Divine Nine Plots, or National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Plots. They are currently working with the university to secure funding for plots on campus to represent the nine NPHC organizations and plan to have them ready by the fall of 2021.
The organization also opened a gate for students to help with traveling, and hosted a coronavirus informational meeting with the Associate Dean of Admissions at Boonshoft Dr. Gary LeRoy.
The virtual event discussed what students needed to know about the coronavirus and when things would return to normal.
SGA also advocated for a grade adjustment during the coronavirus pandemic. The alternate grading policies gave students who had F’s or X’s an FU or XU, meaning they would not impact the student’s GPA. Students are able to retake the class with no penalty to their transcript.
Another accomplishment was the creation of the Racial Equity Task Force. This task force was created in conjunction with Faculty Senate members and is made up of administration members, faculty and students.
The task force focuses on improving relations among minorities at WSU and the rest of campus in light of the George Floyd tragedy. The group sent a letter to the governor requesting diverse appointments to the Board of Trustees and advised President Sue Edwards on the upcoming director of Inclusive Excellence.
SGA has hosted members of Ohio Congress and also Police Chief David Finney to discuss what types of de-escalation techniques are used by state police.
Plans for the future
SGA wants to continue making changes for the better within WSU by completing the NPHC Plots and improving retention at the university.
A future plan that Williams wants to accomplish is to have graduation in person at the end of the 2021 spring semester. While it is still being worked on, Williams hopes to find a way for seniors to receive their diplomas in person while still being safe.
“We had a lot of big goals in March, but we had some wrenches thrown into our plans. The inability to reach our constituencies has been hard,” said SGA Vice President Joseph York.
WSU psychology major Trinity Rammel looks forward to the changes the administration wants to accomplish.
“I think they’ve been doing a great job making sure that everyone has a voice at Wright State. I’m excited to see what they’ll do next to make it better for everyone,” said Rammel.
