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Meet Katherine Swanson! She is a Bold leader on campus who is working hard to improve student, especially female student, experiences. She has already done so much for students, having been involved in the Student Government Association from the moment she stepped foot on campus. She worked her way up from the Finance committee her freshman year to the legislature to the cabinet. She then moved to executive positions, then to her most recent election as President of the SGA. She has also been involved in Civicus, served as the finance chair for community roots, and was the VP of College Dems.
How has being a woman affected your leadership on campus?
Well, I’m taking a women’s leadership class, which emphasizes that women have a more collaborative leadership style. In general, I think being a woman has allowed me to bring a different voice to the table. I am hopeful to think that other women think they can be leaders because of me.
On campus, I don’t know if many people think about women’s interests. There are mostly men in SGA. For the last few years, there has been a male dominated cabinet, legislature, and executive board. I feel like as a result is that they haven’t thought about birth control, tampons, or the women’s health services offered in the health center.
I think that’s my answer to that question for now. I certainly should think about it more, but mostly I just think I provide a new perspective.
What are your goals to improve the lives of female students?
Sexual assault, which is obviously not only a women’s issue but is primarily a women’s issue, is incredibly important. Patrick [Ronk, the former SGA president] and I worked hard to get bystander intervention in freshmen orientation.
Now, I want to work so that the health center provides free tampons. I find it ridiculous that there are free condoms everywhere, but not women’s hygiene products. Brown University, I think, just did the same thing.
What has been your greatest accomplishment this past year?
One of the most fun things I have done is worked a lot with Adele’s Circle. It might not seem like the most impactful, but I have empowered female students and that is an accomplishment.
This sounds rather boring, but we restructured how student advisory boards worked. I think so many people found that it was many of the same individuals who were also in SGA who sat on all of the student advisory boards. They were also mostly white kids coming from good family backgrounds. Now, it is a requirement that all student advisory boards have one student from each grade level. They also must publish their criteria ahead of time. We have also eliminated faculty nominations. The idea is to make the entire process more transparent. They also have to meet at least twice a year so students know what they are voting on.
What are your plans for the next year?
Specifically, I want to secure more free counseling sessions for students. Mental health is so over looked on this campus, despite all the efforts to make people think otherwise. I think students should have as many sessions until they feel okay, in my opinion. I want to work to secure funding from alcohol sales at athletic events for the counseling center to hire more counselors.
I also want to form a Committee on Sexual Assault Prevention, because the UMPD, RHA, CARE and so many other organizations are already trying to work against sexual assault, but I really want to help them share resources.
On the flip side, what is your vision for academic affairs?
I want to create a student leadership grant. I want to take the leftover money from SGA reserves to give scholarships to student leaders with financial need so they can focus on expanding their leadership and doing great things for these campus, rather than working. This way, they do not have to choose between academics or extra-curriculars.
What is your vision for interacting with other governing bodies?
I hope to truly have an open dialogue with every student group on campus. I want to start a President’s Club, which is a really pretentious-sounding name, but it is a working title, where student leaders can meet once a month to discuss best practices, shared goals and priorities. I also really hope that groups can share resources and join forces so we can all help each other, especially since so many groups are working for similar goals.
I also want to make a real partnership with RHA, university senate, IFC, PHA, MGC, and NPHC, but I don’t want to make my efforts exclusive to these large governing bodies.
What are your post-grad plans?
Well I hope that I work for a year first, but I do want to get my Masters in Public Policy. I do hope to run for public office at some point in time, but ultimately I just want a job where I’m making a positive impact on the world.
Who are your three biggest role models?
Well, Hillary Clinton, obviously…and then Wendy Davis and Michelle Obama. It’s really cliché, I know, but they’re just all such amazing women, so how could I help but pick them!