It has been a productive semester for the Student Governance Council here at Ithaca College after a slow slump in the Fall. SGC has passed bills ranging from granting students affected by Donald Trump’s immigration ban to be able to stay in the summer to providing free menstrual products in bathrooms on campus. Taking care of things inside and outside senate is Mariame Foote, a junior Eviormomental Studies and Politics major. Here is some brief things about her and the senate’s future plans:
Her Campus Ithaca College: Where are you from?
Marieme Foote: I’m from Silver Spring, Maryland, and also Dakar, Senegal. I spent lot of my time growing up in between both of these spaces.
HCIC: What does the student body president do in her spare time? Do you have spare time?
MF: I don’t have much spare time, but I enjoy reading and recently picked up photography. Normally spare time is hard to find so I don’t get to explore many other hobbies, but when I do have time I try to make it work.
HCIC: What’s next for the Student Governance Council?
MF: SGC is really working hard on implementing policies that have been associated with sanctuary campuses, and also being pre-emptive on national concerns surrounding immigration and our rights as students and humans.
HCIC: What’s the hardest part of your job?
MF: The hardest part of my job is trying to make sure I’m making responsible decisions even if it might not be the most popular decision. An example of this would be SGC deciding to support the presidential search committee in making it closed even though previously we advocated for it being open. After careful consideration and looking at how other institutions were conducting searches we changed our position in the best interest of students and the college even though it wasn’t a very popular decision.
HCIC: What’s the easiest?
MF: The easiest part is getting to meet so many amazing students working on very powerful and inspiring projects. Thats really what keeps me going on a day to day basis.
HCIC: Advice for anyone running?
MF: In terms of advice for anyone running, I would advise them to really think hard about the depth of commitment they would be putting into the college by being president. It becomes a very core part of your life, takes a lot of energy and can be emotionally taxing. You definitely need to have a lot of will power and also be in a good place in your life or it can be hectic.