Sitting in a poolside chair at the Best Western in Port St. Lucie, Nick Wight, governor of The Broward Student Government, earnestly claims that past complaints of BSG against the Boca Campus are a thing of the past. He insists that “Boca has been screwing us less and less, and now it’s a culture thing.” What he is talking about is his efforts and those of not only the BSG but of the University Wide Council to tackle universal issues such as unification of the campuses. While in previous years Broward has been at odds in competing for funds with the Boca campus, Wight insists that everyone is “mindful about it . . . and it is only a question of time before true improvement will come.” This is reassuring, as the BSG heads off into a new year, where one of their focuses is to create greater participation on the part of the Broward campuses where they will definitely need funds and enticing activities for their students in order to achieve their ends.
One of Wight’s goals, and other BSG members on a recent weekend retreat to Port St. Lucie, is to change the mentality of the Broward students concerning involvement in University sponsored events. His task is an arduous one. Not only must he overcome a non-traditional student make up on the Broward campus, but he must also come to grips with new and inexperienced members as part of the Broward Government. What is of concern perhaps is the fact that this retreat was partly for the benefit of new government members, yet many of them failed to attend this all important gathering to discover their role and purpose in an ever changing political climate. Their input will be necessary for a fruitful year and for following years to come. That they did not attend does not bode well for a successful future Broward government and their goals of achieving a unified Broward student body.
Wight admits that one of the difficulties of getting full student participation is the lack of student awareness. He cites last year’s football games as an example. Even though they raffled off free game tickets and even went so far as to offer opportunities to win two $500 scholarships, “it was still difficult to get them in the stands.” While Wight’s sincerity and vision cannot be denied, he does not offer a cogent plan that will indeed create unity on the Broward campuses. He asserts that his crew is a creative one, “more than people are used to seeing, and it makes . . . [him] . . . proud.” Whether this will be enough to sustain the student involvement he and his government wish to create, remains to be seen.
Unfortunately, the non-traditional Broward student body is much to blame for this lack of student participation, which Wight and his followers wish to see. As part time student 28 year-old Erica Stannard says, “I never go to activities because I come to the Davie campus for class, never know what’s going on, and even when I could go to a football game, I need to be at work.” Her complaint is a common one for many of the non-traditional students, especially at the Broward campus. The average age of students on the Broward campus is 27. Many students are professionals already working in their field or working mothers, graduate students and commuters who cannot or will not be able to even entertain the possibility of coming to an activity on any of the Broward campuses. Another student, Melissa Tillman, a 22 year-old in her last semester, puts it in perspective, “I’d go maybe to a concert, for fun, or a job fair because I’m graduating soon, but other than that, I just don’t know what goes on at the Davie campus, I’m just here for my classes, and then I leave.” This attitude is exactly what the BSG wants to eliminate.
One Broward government representative is pragmatic in his views as he looks at the varying needs of the students at his campus. Andre Jeboo, aware of the demographics of the Broward campuses, feels that they should have activities that relate to the non-traditional student population. One of his ideas is offering activities at times non-traditional students can attend, that do not conflict with any of their other professional and personal demands. Most importantly, he wishes to offer events that they can relate to. Nick Wight has also mentioned that the timing of events has contributed to poor student attendance.
The Broward Student Government wishes to proceed in terms of achieving their mandate of further student involvement. One aspect cannot be denied, the diversity of students at these campuses have their own varying agendas that perhaps cannot be unified. Regardless, Wight and the UWC will continue their efforts to create an FAU campus that offers activities that can meet the needs of all students.
