SGA President Talks Expectations

By:Alexis Butler

Jaylon Pickett has hit the ground rolling at Alabama State University. With big expectations for the upcoming school year Pickett has stated that his biggest concern is the benefit of the student body, and that is what he will make his priority. One of Pickett’s first challenges to tackle will be student morale. He plans to keep greek life, student organizations, and social clubs in close with his administration to encourage students to be active and proud of their university. He also plans to build up the office of student life by creating a “Student life” committee and having SGA sponsor it. Pickett is urging students to become involved within SGA as he uses these next few weeks to fill about 200 open positions. His goal is to have all positions filled and ready to work by Oct. 1. This gives students a little less than a month to show their interest in SGA. But, don’t worry, you are not apart of SGA Pickett will ensure that your voice is still heard. Previously Pickett has been able to gather a large population on his social media, twitter, and plans to use that to his advantage. He will post University updates activities, announcements, etc. there to ensure that students are able to know what is going on. “I want to be transparents, students need to know what SGA can do for them.” Pickett also stated that he will be a strong advocate for students and “represent students to the best of my ability.” Along with having all SGA positions filled by Oct. 1 he will also have a strategic plan handbook given to all students by this date as well. This book will have Pickett’s plans for the school year, his initiatives,core values and challenges in a detailed manner, which will allow students to be in the know and aware of the things happening. One of Pickett’s biggest initiatives is the “Second Chance Foundation.” This foundation will be used for students that have a balance after all financial aid has been used and exhausted. Students must obtain at least a 2.5 GPA. Students will then be required to write a letter, go through an interview, and be responsible for serving the university at all cost. The Second Chance Foundation will be strictly ran off of donations. Meaning the more that is donated the more students that can be helped. Pickett noted that this is not all that he plans to do and encourages students to share their ideas with him. His state address will be given Thursday, Sept 13th at 7pm.Here will discuss his plans for the school year in detail.