Two weeks into the spring semester, Student Government Association (SGA) Executive President Dylan Stallworth released his plans for the upcoming months as well as his concerns about the quality of student life.
Stallworth wants to ensure that the SGA is moving efficiently by implementing bills that were passed the previous semester.
One bill Stallworth wants to see implemented is the “Headshot Bill.” It is a bill that Stallworth himself wrote a couple years ago when he was a senator, and that Sen. Faith Blackwell of the College of Visual and Performing Arts wrote this year for her specific college.
The Headshot Bill will allow incoming freshmen and new students in general professional headshots, annually. The bill’s inspiration is to give students professional and proper representation for their endeavors. As a business major himself, Stallworth noticed that many of the jobs that he applies for require a professional headshot. He also believes it would benefit the College of Visual and Performing Arts, as many of their majors must provide professional headshots for potential jobs.
He also believes that the three different branches of government can improve in how they operate.
“Specifically in the legislative branch, I think there needs to be more focus on passing intentional and more strategic bills,” he said. “For our executive branch, just staying on top of the semester. Typically when the fall semester ends, there’s a dropoff on communication and activity in the student government association.”
Stallworth continued.
“But generally, I think they all (branches) face individual problems but the biggest problem is just staying true to our word and making sure we fulfill the promises our executive officers promised in the campaign season. We’re still fighting for student needs and making sure that the bills that are passed are strategic in relation to the students’ needs and wants on this campus.”
When it comes to residential life, Stallworth says, there were conversations held about expectations, but unfortunately a lot of those expectations were not met, specifically, visitation. According to Stallworth, there should be designated times for people to visit other residence halls.
“It really makes or breaks people’s decision to come to Alabama State and stay at Alabama State,” he said. “I would love to see a strong emphasis on improving the quality of student living on campus.”
Recently, a number of students are complaining about the food selections in the cafeteria. In response to this, Stallworth and his fellow officers had conversations with the staff over the cafeteria, specifically Xavier Hicks, the Aramark General manager for the university.
The SGA had an opportunity to sit down and discuss some of the complaints that students voiced. They also discussed how Hicks planned to solve the issues. According to Hicks, the cafeteria is currently having issues such as not having a fully staffed kitchen, however, Stallworth truly believes that the staff in the cafeteria is working to find solutions that benefit the students.
Another issue that is a concern of Stallworth is student safety.
“Student safety is always a big emphasis, especially from the student government perspective,” he said. “This year, the campus definitely feels safer than it did my freshman year. I do think that when it comes to student safety, there are some pros and cons.”
Stallworth believes that the infrastructure of the campus could be improved.
“The one way in and one way out can be a pro and a con depending on how you look at it,” he said. “At the end of the day, the police department is doing their best to protect our campus. I will say that sometimes it feels like they’re over-policing in my opinion. Other colleges have the opportunity to congregate in large crowds. You don’t really see that on this campus without sanctions. However, it really shows that our police department is taking precautions to prevent things as opposed to responding to them.”
A lack of school pride is another issue that Stallworth would like to see addressed.
“I believe that it is an institutional problem because the university has a huge turnover rate when it comes to students.” Stallworth said. “It is important for the university to ask why students don’t complete the full four years at ASU. There are a bunch of factors, but at the end of the day, what contributed to people remaining at Alabama State is their experience, specifically the customer service from the university to its students.”
He continues.
“If the university is not doing their due diligence to make sure that all the needs of the students are met, those students will leave and have something against the university. I have received multiple grievances about financial aid, housing, over-policing and people repeatedly getting booted. Factors like that will build resentment within students towards Alabama State University.”
Over the years, emphasis on tradition has dwindled considerably. He believes that it is imperative for students to understand the kind of institution Alabama State University is and the hardships it endured to become the bastion of learning it is today.
“From conception to now, there’s a lot of things that the university has accomplished,” he said.
According to Stallworth, if more students were more aware of the university’s complex and rich history and what it means to attend an HBCU, there would be more pride displayed on the campus.
Despite being willing to call out the people above him for negligence, Stallworth does believe that the SGA has a responsibility to make sure that the university does give students a good experience and a sense of pride.
“The student experience has definitely been an emphasis for us,” he said. “I will say that specifically speaking from the student government perspective, we’ve definitely addressed the issues that students have been voicing for the most part. We can’t touch everything but I think we definitely do a good job at addressing the main issues. However, it’s an everyday battle.”
There are reports that some students do not feel that some of the curricula is not adequate enough to prepare them for the future, and Stallworth agrees.
As a student in the Vaughn College of Business Administration, Stallworth has expressed his concerns and belief that the curriculum must be updated and relevant to the job market today. However, Stallworth believes that college is a two way street. It is not purely about curriculum. It is also about how well a student can network and build their resume. It is half curriculum and half what a student can do on their own.
Some students feel there is a strong emphasis on athletics, which sometimes causes it to overshadow other extracurriculars.
“Its a strong emphasis on athletics,” Stallworth said. “But I do understand that it’s a big money driver to the university. However, we’re here to serve all students, not just athletes.”
There were rumors that university wanted to place a greater emphasis on reaching the Latina community. Stallworth thinks that it’s great, as HBCUs are normally diverse campuses. And it isn’t something limited to the color of someone’s skin, but their background as well. ASU represents a ton of international students from over 110 countries, and not only minority students. Stallworth has no issues with diversity recruiting, and believes that diversity is a good thing to have for a university.
When he leaves ASU, Stallworth wants his legacy to be positive.
“I want to be known as a competent leader, a strong leader, and a leader that fulfills his promises. I want our student government association, specifically this year, to be known as good representatives and good leaders.” As the only senior in his cabinet, one thing Stallworth is focused on is preparing the next generation of student leaders.