Brandon Woodard, Student Body Vice President, took time out of his insanely busy schedule to confirm to HerCampusKU why he’s cut out to be our next Campus Celebrity.
A senior from Topeka Kan., Woodard is half way through his second term on the Student Senate
Executive Staff. No one would guess, but as a freshman, the Student Senate process intimidated him so he decided to wait a year to get involved. Instead, he filled his time as Pledge Class President and Fundraising
Coordinator for his fraternity, Delta Lamda Phi, Student Union Activities and the Recruitment Committee for KU Dance Marathon. Once he experienced all of this, his sophomore year, he decided to get involved with the student coalition, KUnited where he was slated to run for a freshman/sophomore candidate. He won this position but was quickly moved to serve as the Student Senate Outreach Director.
Describing this as “a sink or swim experience”, Woodard stepped up to the plate and successfully fulfilled this position. Understanding the impact that Student Senate has on the student experience, he decided to accept the Vice Presidential candidacy position with the KUnited coalition for current 2012/2013 school year. While fulfilling the duties of this position, Woodard has learned a lot about the Student Senate process and has found a greater respect for the administration.
Woodard believes that Senate does so much more than students comprehend unless they are truly involved in the process as Senate controls $24 million in student fees. Anything related to students (i.e. buses, the rec center, Wi-Fi, etc.) is paid for in these fees and is controlled by Student Senate. Knowing all of this is what makes Woodard so passionate about this position. The administration has played a huge part of the success he has seen this year. One of his greatest accomplishments in his term this year is due to the collaboration with the administration for a Spanish Minor. Speaking to the collaboration Woodard said, “the most inspiring part is that the administration truly does want to know what students want and want to make sure they are implementing the students’ ideas.” “Sometimes it may not happen right away but they take the necessary steps to ensure whether or not it’s feasible for KU.” In this case, all parties involved found a Spanish Minor to be feasible for KU and soon, students can begin to enroll for one.
So what does this inspiring Political Science major have in his future? Woodard dreams of being the CEO of a hospital someday and he plans to use his experiences as Student Body Vice President to accomplish this.