A full-circle presidency

By Kyle Hobstetter on September 28, 2021

On the first day of new student move-in, senior Jordan DeVeaux was walking into the newly renovated University Union when another student caught her eye.

Through the Union’s clear, garage-style doors, she watched as the new student stopped their family so they could rub the ear of the bronze tiger statue in the middle of Tiger Plaza. As she watched the student participate in one of TU’s traditions, she couldn’t help but remember her excitement when she was a freshman.

“That was me just a minute ago,” DeVeaux says as she continued to watch new students pass by the Union. “They have no idea what’s in store for them. They’re going to go through some peaks and valleys here at TU, but they’re going to come out stronger.

“They’re going to say, ‘Who I was as a freshman is not even who I am anymore.’”

While DeVeaux admits a lot has changed in her four years at TU, one thing that hasn’t is her passion for the Student Government Association (SGA). She’s been a member since she was a freshman.

One of her fondest memories at TU was during that first year working at SGA. The president at the time asked her to help with Tiger Pride Day, the annual day when TU students meet with lawmakers in Annapolis.

The president let her use their desk to complete some spreadsheets. As she sat there working, she snuck a quick photo. She propped her phone on the desk and took a picture. She said one day she’d be in that chair as SGA president.

Four years later that prophecy came to pass, and she now serves at the president for the 101^st administration. It really has been a full-circle moment.

“My mother said to me, ‘We often regret the things that we don't do, not the things that we do,’ and I couldn't get that message out of my head,” DeVeaux says about her decision to take the position. “She asked me how much desire I had to help Towson University grow.

“The students deserve a lifeline to the university. I asked myself if I was willing to be that lifeline, and the answer was a resounding yes.”

With the first term of her presidency underway, DeVeaux has continued to follow the six goals she set for herself and her team.

• Reclaim the freshman and sophomore experience
• Provide bigger and better programming
• Mitigate the long-term effects of COVID-19 on student life
• Seek transparency, internally and externally, from the TU administration
• Build closer relationships with students
• Increase the social responsibility of the SGA

While these are the foundation of her campaign, she’s also set the goal to have more members of the TU community get to know her and, more importantly, the SGA.

DeVeaux, who has aspirations of going into ministry, likes to call this way of thinking “The Gospel of the SGA.”

“Gospel means ‘good news,’ so the good news of the SGA is that we are here, and we’re available for you,” she says. “Any student concern you have, whether it’s about academics, transportation, facilities or anything, we’re here to do our best to get the person that’s able to help you to the table and ask them how we can come to a resolution.”

Finding resolutions is one of the reasons the Silver Spring, Maryland, native chose Towson University. It's also one of the reasons she became a psychology major, because she is always trying to find a way to help people, no matter what. 

She didn’t want to be surrounded by people who looked, acted and thought like she did. She wanted to have conversations with people who wouldn’t always agree with her. She even presented a TEDx Talk titled, “Civil Disagreement: A Dying Art.”

“I really wanted to cultivate that skill while I was in college, and Towson was the perfect place because we are really, for lack of a better term, a melting pot of different identities,” DeVeaux says.

With her time at Towson University winding down, she can’t help but reminisce. Over the summer, she and the rest of the SGA got a behind-the-scenes tour of the new University Union. She became emotional about how the university continues to grow and focus on its students.

And she moves closer to graduation, she’s excited for not only what the rest of her term as SGA president will bring but also the future.

“I’m excited and a little emotional because they’re my favorite people on the planet. SGA is a family, and we welcome all who want to join,” she says.

Those interested in the Towson University SGA can check out their Instagram and Twitter; their website or reach them through email. SGA also hosts open meetings on Tuesday in their temporary office on the third floor of the University Union.