Last week, we published part 1 of our interview with Chatham Student Government (CSG) Executive President Sarah Jugovic. In part 2, she shares her thoughts on the coed announcement and her hopes for the year ahead.
HC Chatham: What is the most important thing that you learned from being a part of student government when that announcement was made last year?
Sarah Jugovic: It was difficult. It was important to distinguish myself – Sarah Jugovic, a Chatham University student – from Sarah Jugovic, Executive President of Student Government. So just learning how to deal in the public eye, not keeping to myself and not being impartial in the situation, but just taking a step back, getting all the facts, and analyzing the situation with feelings on polar ends of one another, and really making a decision for myself on where I stood…. Because it was so emotionally charged…. But just taking in everyone’s opinions and concerns from students, faculty, staff, administration, and alum, and kind of taking all those things together and having the confidence to say, This is where I stand.
What can people expect in the year ahead as the transition moves forward?
Well, I think it’s all up in the air. And not only does Student Government have a say in this, but we’re all in this together. It’s new for everyone in terms of students, the administration, faculty, staff and everyone who’s making these decisions and the higher-ups…. We want to accurately represent the entire undergraduate population in the coed transition, making sure everyone’s voice is heard. We’re looking to restructure the way we run, restructure how the Student Government is set up…. Right now we’re the Chatham College for Women Student Government, so this being the last year of the College for Women, we need to completely redesign the Student Government structure representing undergraduates as we have now. That’s immediate right now that we have to figure out. And in terms of other issues we’ll be dealing with, last year we had great strides with revamping the Senior Gift process, installing and getting the process moving on water purification faucets in all the residence halls, helping plan BOTC and restructure in a way that doesn’t conflict during midterms – a time in the fall semester when we’re all crazy and psyched out – that it’s more manageable to do BOTC. And then we also launched a beauty campaign, a campaign about building your self confidence and being okay with the skin that you’re in. So, looking to the future, we had no idea that the coed decision was coming up, but I’m sure we’ll have our hands full this semester and in the spring.
What project or initiative that you’ve worked on are you most proud of?
I’d say … the grace [with which] we dealt with the coed decision. Being called into the campus community update, [there were rumors]: We’re going coed. We’re doing this, we’re doing that. And when we actually heard the news, in reacting to it, in dealing with it, I’m most proud of the way that the Senate of the 2014 spring semester dealt with that. And it was the whole Senate, not just the Executive Board.
What do you hope your legacy will be after you finish your term this year?
I think just being a good people person. And I want to make an effort to know everyone, to hear students’ concerns, not have our own agenda, just really reaching out to students. (Obviously, we’re Student Government, that’s what we do.) But being approachable. Being someone that is known on campus – Hey, that’s SJ! I’m going to talk to her about this or that, sit down and have lunch with her in Anderson, grab a cup of coffee in Café Rachel. And that I’m approachable. I have office hours every Monday and Wednesday: Monday in Café Rachel, noon to 2, Wednesday in the Carriage House, 10 a.m. to noon.
What else are you up to on campus?
I’m also a student athlete. I’m on the soccer team. I was a Vira I. Heinz recipient for the scholarship – that’s how I went abroad this summer. I’m a Publicist for Student Affairs, an Undergraduate Ambassador, and I think that’s it.
So when a prospective first year student asks you, Why should I go here?, what do you tell them?
Oh, I have so many answers. I like to tell individual Chatham stories, kind of like what brings people to Chatham. I always talk about the initiatives. But again, I’d say the community aspect. You come here, you’re a name, not a number. You’re a person. And I love the small liberal arts women’s leadership education that Chatham perpetuates here.
And as a soccer player, has being on a team taught you anything about being a leader?
Oh my gosh, so much. The team dynamic the soccer team has is like none other that I’ve ever experienced. From our inside jokes to bus rides to away games, and everything in between, it’s made me realize that everyone’s a leader. We have individuals that stick out on the soccer team, but we all kind of coexist in a way that no one’s better than the next. And something silly is whenever we go in for a team huddle, we scream “Bangarang!” to start the game. I couldn’t imagine being here at Chatham and not being on the soccer team. They’re my little family.
Is there anything else you’d like to mention?
This year, for the 2014/2015 Student Government, we’re really basing our mission in advocacy and civic engagement, and starting that off with a possible partnership with the PCWP [Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics] is first on our list.
Quick Questions
Who’s your favorite fictional female leader?
Olivia Pope from Scandal. She’s a gladiator. We gladiate. And I feel like we do that, too, on Student Government.
Dean Pope. We call Dean Waite Dean Pope.
Who’s your favorite real-life lady leader? It could be a political leader, a business leader….
Business! Susan Gregg Koger from ModCloth. She came here for one of the events every Friday for the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship, and I got to meet her.
We all have favorite classes at Chatham, but what is one class that really changed your life?
Dr. Lenz’ Scholars class, Lost in the Funhouse. Postmodernism and all that fun stuff. That changed my life for sure.
If you could invent your dream Chatham class, what would it be? It could be taught by anyone, it could be about anything in the whole world.
Maybe like a “Get to Know Pittsburgh” thing. Like the inside scoop on Pittsburgh. That’d be awesome, because we have a lot of international and out-of-state students.
What do you want to do after graduation?
I want to get into public relations. I have some nonprofit experience under my belt with my previous internship at Bike Pittsburgh. I want to start out at a publication – a magazine or a newspaper – as a journalist, and then maybe do some graphic design or photography on the side. Eventually I want to own my own company and be the CEO, but who knows what that’ll be in. That’s way down the road.
Favorite place on campus?
Mellon Sun Porch. I always highlight that on my tour.