Working with Student Leaders
Evelyn Reiman recalls what it was like to observe multiple student leaders grow and develop their leadership styles since she began serving as a Student Government adviser.
Interview on 2012-04-26 00:00:00 -0400
Transcript
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So as an administrator when you're working with those students
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you get a chance to really see how they're looking at leadership,
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how they're choosing their battles, because tuition and fees is probably the one that's stood the test of time.
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They have to decide, do they just take an adamant sort of no new tuition increase, no new fees?
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Do they accommodate to it? Do they vote for the full amount? Do they try to use their influence, and they're only one of thirteen
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and usually they feel like the votes are stacked against them,
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so how do they navigate that?
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I think most of them don't want to burn their bridges either, right, so they're on this distinguished board of trustees with leaders from across the country
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and they're working with senior administration, so how do they advocate for students
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and be a true voice and champion for students and still keep or preserve a positive relationship with administration?
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So I'm very impressed by the ways they've kind of navigated that
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and I always felt very strongly that as an advisor to the student body president
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that my top priority needed to be supporting them and helping them accomplish their goals
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and never, ever using them as a tool to accomplish my goals.
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There were student body presidents that I was very close to and then there were a couple where we really were quite different from each other,
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and I want to think that it was always about helping them be who they wanted to be
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in what they accomplished, even if it wasn't the exact policy course that I would take.
This video is an excerpt from a longer interview. Contact the Special Collections Research Center to request the transcript of the full interview.