Tionna Haynes

Only in her second year here, Tionna Haynes is already making a big impact here on the Hill. Whether you receive her bi-weekly Dana emails and are curious to learn more about the sender, or have no idea what SOBHU even is, read more about how Tionna enriches your campus life.

So, judging by the long list of activities on your email signature I really thought you would be a senior! Please tell me a bit more about each and why you do them. (Tionna is a Colby Posse 10 Scholar, the Pugh Publicity Coordinator, Dana Dorm President, a Express Poetry Club Co-President and SOBHU (Students Organized for Black and Hispanic Unity) Chair of Publicity)

Throughout my whole life, leadership has been something I’ve always wanted to do. In high school I was co-captain of my basketball team, among other roles that I held. When I came to Colby I wanted to ease into it, to find my friends, but in the spring [of my freshman year], I realized that I needed to get back into my niche and do what I need to do. I started as a member of SOBHU (Students Organized for Black and Hispanic Unity) then. I really enjoyed being in it because I was with people who have shared the same experiences as I am in this new environment. My high school was really diverse compared to here so Colby was really a transition to me. I wanted to have a better start my sophomore year so I started club about poetry—I started the Express Poetry Club so that if people didn’t want to do poetry at night (since another club met on Thursday nights at 11 PM) they could do it before dinner with us.
When I came in this year for my sophomore fall, I was just excited to get started. I inquired about the Pugh Center position of Publicity Coordinator last spring. I had heard there was a vacancy from one of my friends so I jumped in—I make facebook events and drum up publicity. From being in the Pugh Center due to my position and SOBHU, I saw that it was the same people going all the time.
In addition, I made sure I was in SGA this year so I could work on policy-making and multi-cultural events, room draw, etc. SGA, in a way, reflects the homogeneity of this campus. I wanted to bring my perspective to it—I can relay information to my friends, I tell them what’s going on and gauge their opinions and try and it to the table. To be dorm president, it’s important to make sure that you’re open and friendly, tell them what’s going on, make it a quick read, make sure that we do a dorm event each semester.
I think it’s great that Kareem and Morgan (SGA co-presidents) have a big push on multiculturalism so I’m helping them with that. We’re really trying to push multiculturalism as campus so I help connect events such as Pledge to Pugh and Storytime (the SGA initiative in which a student tells the community a story about his/her life on a Sunday night).

Could you please tell me more about Pledge to Pugh, I heard that you started it this year and it sounds great.

It came to me a nap this summer, actually, and I’m really excited about it. I thought, ‘how can I get people more involved without getting in their faces? I thought of asking people to pledge to go to two events per month, but SGA helped me realize that two events per term would be much more realistic. It’s to get more people aware about what goes on in the center and what we do. I cried when I got a hundred people to pledge. The entire SGA pledged—Morgan and Kareem helped me during the orientation for SGA. I proposed my idea and gave them my suggestions and that’s how the revision came out. The end goal of the Pledge to Pugh program is to get people to come to Pugh Center events. I’m really happy that I had input from people who aren’t usually involved because helped me understand why two events per semester was a better compromise.
I don’t personally go to all of them of the Pugh Center events, I simply don’t have time to, but I know SGA’s Storytime is very successful; they keep adding chairs more time. I think there are more people coming to Pugh Center events. I went to the most recent dialogue dinner and I saw a lot of new people and that makes me happy that more people are getting involved.

How do you manage to do everything?

Google Calendars is my best friend. It reminds me when I have work, when I have other commitments, etc. I try and multitask, I read as often as I can to get a jump ahead on my work. On the weekends I just grind it out—I’ll wake up early. If it gets too crazy I just take a step back and say its okay. Everything I do works together, it all makes sense to me. It’s a natural fit for me to participate in both SOBHU and Pugh Center so I can connect more people to different events and activities to form a true community. Everyone’s path is different; you never know someone’s perspective until you talk to him or her.
I’m also a Posse Scholar, so two to three hours each week go to meetings with my mentor and other events. It’s hard to get all 10 of us in our grade together so it’s what I consider fun. It’s a leadership scholarship so I really try and lead here on campus. It depends on how you define leadership, so I love my Posse and everything they do here; it’s great having that support.

How has your background influenced what you do? How have your passions/ activities/ focus changed throughout your time here so far?

Coming to Colby made me realize how important my family and my culture are to me. I realized how important multiculturalism is to me. At home, I lived in it, in a sense, but here, I work to develop it in this environment and help people get as much from it as I do. Growing up at home, I had a lot of female leaders, my mom had three sisters and my grandma was a teacher. When you always see people striving, it’s something I just wanted to emulate and to always be active and involved in my community.

What about academics? How does that shape what you do outside of class?

I didn’t really realize my identity until I came to Colby. I declared an African Studies and History double major recently—since I’m helping other people understand more about multiculturalism I want to learn more and appreciate my history since I don’t know too much about it. The classes I’m taking really open my eyes to how and why America is the way it is. I’m learning about our country’s problems and how we can learn to coexist together.

What do you do for fun?

I really find pleasure in what I do because my friends work with me in the Pugh Center. I go shows in Strider, I sit and hang out, I party with my friends… at night I love watching the Colbert Report or the Daily Show. In the library, I’m hanging out with my friends. I make it work; I’m often busy at my activities but also hanging out at the same time. I also love going to basketball I go to all the games in the winter.

So why do you do everything you do and make time for it all? Advice for other students looking to be in leadership positions?

I really like making stuff happen—I see a lot of people being passive and complaining. If I’m going to complain, if I’m not going to do anything about it, then I shouldn’t complain. I want to be that person to help create change.