| Now that the class of 2015 has turned its tassel, it’s time for the newly elected Student Government Association to begin its tenure, and the Austin Ogletree administration is ready.
“We have so many different personalities and interests represented,” Ogletree said. “We have the embodiment of North Carolina A&T State University in this administration.”
Ogletree, 21, is a junior industrial and systems engineering major from Barnesville, Georgia, who won the presidency while doing co-op study with Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
“The election started from day one – from the day I stepped on campus,” Ogletree said. “I knew I wanted to be a premiere leader on this campus. I think that my work as freshman class and sophomore class president definitely helped, and running unopposed helped as well.”
He was able to take the week of elections off from his co-op to come back to campus and share his platform of “The Return of Aggie Pride.”
Joining Ogletree on the executive board as Miss and Mister A&T are Myja Gary and Jamal Averett, respectively.
Gary is a rising senior, journalism and mass communication major from Chester, Virginia. Her platform was, “Still I R.I.S.E. – Reaching, Inspiring, Strengthening, Empowering the Campus and Community.”
“My platform is based on perseverance after being knocked down so many times and trying to find a purpose,” she said. “I’ve already started planning and writing down my ideas about workshops and community service programs that I want to implement in the upcoming year.”
Like the past two Miss A&T leaders, Gary had not held an SGA position before being elected.
“I felt like if they could do it, I could, too. I thought, why not take the risk and do it,” she said.
Averett, a rising senior and marketing sales major, has held an elected position each year – Mister Freshman, Sophomore Vice President and Mister Junior. While Averett has been honored to serve, he does prefer the Mister position to vice president for a very specific reason.
“The Mister position is more hands on with students,” he said. “You seem to meet a lot more people.”
Meeting people is, after all, how Averett became Mister A&T. Having a position in SGA is something he’s wanted to do since before he became a student. When he came to A&T, Averett started coming out of his shell.
“People feel like when you get here, you have to already be a part of the in-crowd. You don’t have to start from the top, you can work your way up,” he said.
Rounding out the SGA executive board are Christian Kornegay-White, vice president of internal affairs; Emani Terry, vice president of external affairs; Kristy Foye, attorney general; Tayler Coltrane, chief of staff; Diamond Womack, treasurer; Damian Jeffers, secretary; and Terrence Odom, parliamentarian. |
