A Q&A with SGA President Russhell Ford

By Kyle Hobstetter on August 7, 2018

When Russhell Ford ’19 came to Towson University four years ago, the Severn, Md. native knew she wanted to get involved on campus immediately.

That’s why during her freshman year, Ford joined the NAACP, the Black Student Union (BSU) and In The Life. As her college career continued, she continued to find ways to get involved on campus —  joining the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

After receiving leadership experience in several organizations — the political science major served as the diversity chair for Delta Sigma Theta, was vice president of BSU, and was director of diversity and inclusion for SGA — she’s ready to take on her biggest task to date: Towson University SGA President.

Earlier this summer, Ford sat down with Towson University and discussed what brought her to Towson University, why she wanted to get involved early in her college career, and what she hopes to accomplish as SGA President.

What made you choose Towson University?

I didn’t want to go too far away from home, but I wanted to stay in the area. Also, TU is a medium-sized school, so if I wanted to get to know everyone on a personal level, I could, rather than go to a school where there are 40,000 students, and it’s hard to meet people and get involved.

I came to TU immediately thinking I was going to get involved with student organizations.

You’re going into your fourth and final year. How has your time at TU been?

I love Towson University. I loved getting involved, and still being involved. I started out in three student organizations and over time I got leadership experiences in those organizations. I try to go to everything I can. I really try to multi-task, because while school is important, I’m also here to build character.

How important have student organizations been to your experience at TU?

I’ve learned something different from every single organization. Some of these are things I can take into my adult life; and some of these are things I can take to my next homework assignment. It’s like small or big things. Student organizations are one of the main reasons I love Towson University so much. Just because I love that we have so many student organizations, just working toward the same goals of character development, leadership development, career building — and all those things are important to me.

What made you want to get involved with the Student Government Association?

I think that SGA can bring the most change on campus. And I’m not here to watch TU be stagnant. I wanted to put my own stamp on the TU community and campus. I know it sounds really generic, that’s what I wanted to do.

Diversity specifically is important to me. So, I want to make sure to emphasize the importance of diversity, which is why I joined SGA in the first place.

How has diversity had an impact on your time at Towson University?

I am a minority — I have three intersecting identities. They are all important to me, and I can’t separate them. So I have to live with all three at the same time. So, it’s important for other students who are like me to kind of feel just as valued as other students.

I think that TU should be one of the schools that embraces diversity . . . instead of saying we’re all the same, TU should celebrate and embrace our differences.

What are you hoping to accomplish during your term as president?

I really want to emphasize student involvement, student diversity and all those initiatives that I had as vice president of BSU, or director of diversity and inclusion in SGA. And really broadening our realm of events and initiatives that we have. I also want to really take charge of things that are not only impacting Towson University, but things that are impacting Maryland and the University System of Maryland as well.

And of course, we want to make our students’ lives easier, and work on making SGA more transparent so that students can talk to us. Because one of the most important parts of my role is being a recognizable face; so students think I’m personable and can approach me about any issue they have. That’s been one of my main goals over the summer. I’ve been dealing with a ton of student concerns already and it’s nice to know that students already feel comfortable talking to me.

As someone who has been involved immediately, what advice do you have for students who are looking to get involved themselves?

I would say to start small. It’s not all about leadership sometimes. If you want to make a difference you can, and Towson University has the resources for you to do so.