Grant Hale is the current Chief of Staff for the Student Government Association at the University of North Texas, Alumni Relations Chairman for Pi Kappa Alpha, Epsilon Delta Chapter, and a member of the North Texas Forty Student Foundation. He is one of the presidential candidates for SGA elections, scored 68% of the vote in SGA’s Twitter poll after the presidential debate, and 46% in the general election. Voting for the run-off election will begin April 18 at 8:00am. We sat down with Grant so students at UNT got a better idea of his platform.
Briefly summarize or describe your platform.
The Thrive Campaign believes in the principles of Transparency, Tradition, and Together. We will work to increase Transparency by making sure students know what SGA is and what SGA can do to help them. Furthermore, we would like to see the UNT administration be more transparent. We want students to be proud to be at UNT and believe that SGA should be the ones to set the example for students to follow in terms of pride and engagement. Tradition is much more than football games, and we believe that SGA should recognize the traits and programs that set UNT apart and make us unique. Finally, we believe that the student body should be more cohesive by uniting our voice Together. We want to create special interest groups that will each be designed to represent specific groups of students in order to make sure their voices are being considered in legislation and other SGA initiatives.
What made you run for SGA president? What was and is your motivation? Why do you want to be SGA president?
I decided to run for President because it is time for SGA to work for students. I have been involved in SGA beginning in my freshman year and have now seen three different administrations. I know what SGA has done right and what it has done wrong. I have the experience, vision, and drive to make sure that SGA improves and works to better serve the student body.
How do you plan to impact the study body and improve campus life?
SGA needs to listen to student needs and concerns. Under the Hale/Cole administration, SGA will make listening to student opinion the top priority. The best way to know how to improve campus is for students to tell us what needs to change. It then becomes SGA’s job to make that change happen.
What will be your first plan of action if elected?
If elected, the first actions of the Hale/Cole administration will be to begin establishing the special interest groups detailed in the ‘Together’ portion of our platform. We believe that these are fundamental to ensuring that all students have their voices heard and considered.
What is your biggest strength or anything you want constituents to know about you?
The Hale/Cole ticket is the only one with the appropriate experience to properly serve the student body. Furthermore, the Hale/Cole ticket is the only one with a students-first vision. While other candidates talk about what they want to do with SGA, only the Hale/Cole ticket focuses on what students want to do.
What is your biggest weakness and how would you address such concern to those hesitant to vote for you?
Some people view my campus involvement as not being broad enough for the job. It is important not to confuse a diversity of experience with the right kind of experience. The SGA President does not need experience in all areas of campus to represent the student body. The SGA President needs to be focused on reaching out to students and have them speak for themselves, not speaking for them, and only the Hale/Cole ticket emphasizes that.
How will you motivate and inspire an otherwise apathetic student body to engage in SGA legislation or with campus in general?
It’s a matter of SGA reaching out to students, not waiting for students to reach out to us. Once students come to expect more from SGA, and know that SGA is here to work for them, students will be more likely to be engaged.