It’s crazy to think that the current 2015-2016 Student Government Association (SGA) president at Oklahoma State University almost went to that “other” school in Oklahoma.
Kyle Hilbert, an agribusiness senior from Depew, Oklahoma says that most of his family are OU fans. He very well could be wearing crimson and cream instead of America’s Brightest Orange. “Fortunately, I was in FFA in high school,” Hilbert says. “That’s what drew me to OSU. I’m slowly winning my family over to the orange side. My dad even bought OSU football season tickets this year!”
Hilbert’s FFA background led him to become a student with the OSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CASNR) where, as a sophomore, he was chosen to fill a vacated senate seat on the CASNR Student Council. As passionate as he was about CASNR, he had never really considered being involved in student government before, and this senate position happened to fall into his lap.
After he became more involved with SGA, it really opened his eyes to what all the group does for the students of OSU.
“Really, SGA helps the students out in three main ways,” Hilbert explains. “SGA serves as the voice of the student body, as the face of the student body, and it helps get student organizations the funding they need to operate and hold unique events for the student body.”
Even though he enjoyed SGA, he still hadn’t considered the possibility of running for a higher office like president. A few of his friends encouraged him and his friend, Taylor Dennis, to run together as SGA president and vice-president in January 2015. Hilbert and Dennis decided that if they could come up with a good platform they were passionate about, then they would run together.
“Students ask us all the time if SGA can help get rid of the students fees,” Hilbert says. “While we do get a portion of student fees, we aren’t the actual entity that sets them for the university. We use the majority of our portion to distribute among the student organizations, so ultimately, it goes back to the students.”
While this feature has focused a lot on the SGA part of Hilbert’s life, he does have a life outside of the Student Government Association. He is in his third year as a CASNR ambassador. One of his favorite parts of being an ambassador is sitting down with students and parents and letting them know why spending four years in Stillwater will be one of the best decisions of their lives. He is also in his second year as the internal vice-president of the FarmHouse fraternity. He visits his family in Depew about once a month, and enjoys watching his brother play high school football. He also is occassionally asked by his childhood pastor to give guest sermons at Depew First Baptist Church when he is back home.
Hilbert enjoys OSU football and basketball and attends many of the games with his girlfriend, friends and, now, his family. He said the only downside for running for SGA president last spring was that the campaign season happened in the middle of OSU basketball season. He is looking forward to enjoying his last year of OSU athletics as a student, but knows he will be back as an alumni.
After graduation, Hilbert wants to use his agribusiness degree to work in either the agricultural or policy sector, or both if it works out that way. For now, however, he is focused on making his last year at OSU the best for himself and his fellow Cowboys.