Wednesday, November 21, 2001

Aiming High
New SGA president sets lofty goals, achieves them
Kristin Delorantis
Staff Reporter

As a junior in high school, Chelsea Hudson swore she would never be involved with government after high school because it never accomplished anything.

A mere four years later, Hudson will serve as the Student Government Association President. Her ambitions include striving for a higher political office: the governorship of Texas.

“My mom told me I should not doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens could change the world,” Hudson said.

A junior political science major, Hudson is the first female to occupy the position of SGA President since Shana Lawlor in 1998.

Though her gender was not an influential factor in her campaign, Hudson said, she thought having a female in office again will inspire other women to get involved on campus.

Despite a trend for male SGA presidents, women can be just as effective in office, he said. Her goals for SGA include extending the hours in The Main, re-establishing the TCU movie channel, publishing an online calendar of events for different groups on campus, making professor evaluations available online and adding more emergency phones on campus.

Hudson said she has strong communication skills, which is key to accomplishing goals.

“I’ve always been able to talk a lot and you need a communicator in this position that can motivate people and bring fun into things,” Hudson said. “There’s a time and place to be serious when you are accomplishing goals, but in the process you want to make a memory for students, so it needs to be fun.”

Hudson said she has wanted to fulfill the position of SGA President since her freshman year. She said she admired the performance of 1999 SGA President Ben Alexander, currently the director of admissions marketing.

Hudson said Alexander is a hard leader to follow because of his great leadership qualities and ability to listen.

Because Alexander has been in the same position Hudson currently holds, Hudson said he is there for emotional support and can relate to the time constraints and stress of the position.

Alexander said a lot has changed since he was in office and that Hudson will need good time management.

“Chelsea needs to dedicate the time she can to (the office), but it can completely eat up her life so it is important to keep things in perspective.”

Kristin Delorantis
k.a.delorantis@student.tcu.edu