Following last year’s uncontested race for Case Western Reserve University’s Undergraduate Student Government president, fourth-year Zelene Desire takes the helm of one of the university’s largest umbrella organizations.
“I always liked being a leader,” Desire said. “I like being a voice for the people because I, myself, am introverted. I felt like I was a pretty good candidate because I understand how it might be scary to speak up, but it’s necessary. I did that in high school, and then when I was applying to Case, they added a note [saying] ‘You should join USG.’ I came on campus, and that was the first thing I did. I applied, and it was a pretty easy process, but the reason I stayed is because I felt like I was doing good work.”
USG is “a group of elected leaders who advocate for the student body and aspire to continuously improve the CWRU undergraduate experience.” Beyond being the overseer for most clubs on campus, a large part of USG centers around creating beneficial change on campus through its four committees for academic affairs, diversity and inclusion, finance and student life. Their main work focuses on making changes students want to see on campus.
“It can be as simple as changing the food in the dining halls, or something I did, which is [adding] the airport shuttles,” Desire said. “It is just something where you wish that could be added to campus. We talk to the administration and [work to make] it happen.”
Desire hopes that by increasing engagement with the student body, USG would better serve the CWRU community.
“I want students to know that we’re here because that is a way that we can gather information,” she said. “We have events. We make small talk with people [and] understand what they want to change on campus.”
Desire further elaborates on how she will expand outreach, beginning with increasing their presence on online platforms.
“We’ll make sure we are posting consistently, so that we can boost our engagement there,” she said. “Second, we want to have more events. I want to have at least two more events, including one or two more events this semester. An idea I had is to add an additional newsletter, one for clubs and the other for initiatives. I’m trying to talk to our vice president of communication because I know that it’s a lot of work to have two newsletters, but I think it could be worthwhile.”
However, beyond external communications, Desire also has plans to improve the internal community of USG. By integrating the subcommittees in a more cohesive way, Desire hopes that they will be able to make more efficient and educated decisions. She expresses that this is especially important when discussing policy changes and potential uncertainty in higher education brought on by the current presidential administration.
“We’re just doing our due diligence to stay informed. I’ve always been an informed person, and I want to make sure that at least my Exec is being aware of [current events],” she said. “I think this administration is very unpredictable, so it’s hard to be proactive, but I want to try and be. We’re going to continue having those conversations. Being close with administration means they’re usually going to inform us about things a little quicker. Once we get that information from them, I want us to do our due diligence and brainstorm how we can make sure that we’re still able to plan out our missions effectively despite everything that’s happening.”
“I want to encourage not only my members, but also all the student body to know that there’s power in being a student,” she said. “Most change that has happened in this country was started by students. I would like to continue to have people use their voices. I think that’s what we do best as students, and that’s what differentiates us from administrations.”
As a final message to the student body, Desire stresses the importance of communicating with USG.
“Please interact with us as much as you can. [USG is] here as a resource,” Desire said. “Don’t be afraid to come to the general assembly or any committee meetings. Email me. Email Exec. It’s a really fun opportunity to be able to talk for the students, but it’s hard to do that without
speaking to students.”