Sophomore Camille Hosman is the founding president of Tigers Against Partisan Politics, an organization dedicated to providing a forum for students to learn and discuss various political topics. TAPP was awarded the Chancellor’s Excellence Award for Best New Organization this year. We sat down with Camille to talk about TAPP and her future plans.
Her Campus Mizzou: How did you get involved with TAPP?
Camille Hosman: I started it with my friend Trey. A couple of other people that we lived with in Schurz decided it would be a cool thing to start a political organization on campus, and then some people kind of realized how hard it was, so we lost some help, but Trey and I just kind of kept pushing.
HCM: What spurred the idea to create an organization against partisan politics?
CH: What we were interested in doing was not to create a social movement against partisan politics. What we were interested in creating was an environment that students could learn about politics in an unbiased way. Our primary interest is creating an education opportunity for students and also a safe space for students of all political ideologies or no political ideologies to learn about politics.
HCM: What are some things that TAPP has done?
CH: During the fall 2012 election season, we hosted events about the Affordable Care Act and health care reform, about behind the scenes in political campaigns, and about Saturday Night Live and its influence on elections. We hosted watch parties for all the presidential debates and the vice presidential debate. The TAPP leadership did FIG education programs and so we spoke to FIGS about how to get involved and help people register to vote. This semester, we hosted a panel and a speaker on immigration reform, an environmental policy and sustainability discussion, and a North Korea discussion.
HCM: What are some things that you want to work on in the upcoming years with TAPP?
CH: Reaching more of the student body is one of my biggest goals. But it’s hard to balance getting your name out to a lot of students and getting your name out to students that care and really convincing people that it’s something they should care about and coming out and learning even if it’s coming out to one discussion or one meeting, you know, really being conscious about the conversations they’re having and their political ideology.
HCM: What was the award that you received recently?
CH: We got the Chancellor’s Excellence Award for Best New Organization.
HCM: What were your expectations about the award?
CH: Honestly, I was really nervous about it only because TAPP is a pretty small org, but we don’t think we are because we’re nonstop and we work nonstop. Being a TAPP leader is really about thinking a lot about TAPP all the time. When we first applied, we were like, yeah there are no organizations like us anywhere, and then as time passed we thought well, crap, there might be other people that stand a chance that we’ve never heard of just like no one’s ever heard of TAPP. Then Thursday morning during Spring Break, I got an e-mail, and I was like yay!
HCM: What other things are you involved in on campus?
CH: I am on the executive board of AIESEC. We take students from Mizzou’s campus and send them to international internships, and we provide leadership development for our members and provide exchange opportunities for students. I am also a recent appointee to MSA cabinet, so I will be joining in the fall as The Legislative Advocacy Officer. I was an intern at the office of the senate minority leader. I am also involved with the Vagina Monologues.
HCM: What are you planning to do in the long run after you graduate?
CH: I really like the idea of public service. I really care a lot about it, but I don’t know what form that’s going to take.