Fluent in both Spanish and English, and a visionary for change at the University of Maine, this week’s Campus Celeb is José Roman.
José transferred from the University of Southern Maine just last year. Already he has become an integral part of the University of Maine system here in Orono. Starting out as a senator for UMaine’s Student Government, he realized that he wanted to be able to make greater change for UMaine’s students. He was appointed the Director of External Affairs.
The Director of External Affairs was a seriously under-used position, according to José. The director is in charge of things like promoting events on campus (such as Girl Talk, coming this Thursday!), but as José has proven, it can be so much more.
“I don’t really have a routine from day-to-day, but my main goal is to help students have a positive view of our Student Government system. I feel like a lot of students think we don’t do much, and I want to change that.”
How does he plan on accomplishing this? It starts with the senators. One of his goals is to build a more coherent student government – one that has a higher morale with senators who get excited to come to meetings every Tuesday. He suggested the idea of senator of the month to encourage more active, positive participation from students. Aside from that, one of his projects in the works is to get senators to run in the healthy high on April 20th. Senators would run with students and those who don’t will be handing out water to the runners.
José also wants to start holding more events sponsored by UMaineSG. “I feel like other groups hold events, and I want UMaineSG to start doing things together too. You always see Greek Life sponsoring events and I really want to get the UMaineSG name out there, so that students know we really are here for them, and not just to hand out money for their specific groups or activities.”
To get all this done, he started his own committee; the External Affairs Committee. Hand-picked students, by himself, were chosen to be on his committee to help with events and the various tasks involved for pursuing his goals.
One of these events in the works is an Egg Hunt. Easter eggs will be hidden all across campus, with a piece of paper on the inside with points on it. Students are encouraged to find as many eggs as possible, and then turn in their points to redeem prizes. Prizes include candy, small stuffed animals and even bigger prizes which haven’t been announced yet.
“I think that this kind of event will get students involved and have a good time. It will also help UMaineSG become more visible in the eyes of students.”
José is also involved in Greek Life. He’s the recruitment chair for Alpha Tau Omega, a returning fraternity on campus. He says he was looking for a group of people to relate to and find his niche on campus. Since ATO is fairly new, they haven’t necessarily been established yet, and this was part of the draw for him. He felt like he was able to contribute something of importance and still be heard since all the brothers are fairly new.
ATO is sponsoring a fun upcoming event; the Dating Game. Two UMaine students will be up for a date! One guy and one girl will be the potential daters. They are unable to see the contestants while they ask them questions. They have to decide who they want to date from their answers. All proceeds will go to their philanthropy, Angel Flights. This organization provides free air transportation for health care needs for children. The brothers of ATO encourage everyone to come. Plus if you show up to the Dating Game you’ll get a free T-shirt, while they last!
José is committed to making changes here at UMaine. While balancing all this and school, he’s trying not to get burnt out. How? He takes a break by going to Margarita’s every Wednesday for college night with his friends. He gets motivated by inspiring other people to share the same vision he does – a strong community of students.
As José keeps his momentum going, be sure to keep an eye out for his great accomplishments!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Maine chapter.