Making a difference

Thompson leads student body through service

Pastoral ministry student Quincy Thompson recently made Liberty University history. Elected in April 2014, Thompson is the first junior to ever serve as student body president for the Student Government Association (SGA).

“(A junior being elected) hasn’t been done before,” Thompson said. “Normally the student body president is a senior. It’s been a great opportunity, a great experience.”

Thompson said he first gained interest in serving as a part of SGA freshman year when his residential assistant asked for hall senator representatives. After a race to represent Dorm 22-2, Thompson began his career in public service.

“It was just an interest,” Thompson said. “I’ve always had a fascination with politics and government. Even though I feel called to be a pastor, I’ve always had that interest.”

From a freshman with an interest in politics serving as hall senator, Thompson soon moved into the position of spiritual life committee chairman before going on to be elected into his current position as student body president.

Although Thompson does not plan to pursue public office after graduation, he believes the skills he has learned in SGA, such as leadership and hard work, can be practical in any career.

“It was definitely a lot more work than I expected, but it’s been good work — rewarding work,” Thompson said. “It’s one of those positions that you never stop working. I’ve learned what to do as a leader and what not to do as a leader.”

There was no clear blueprint on how to effectively and efficiently govern a student body, so when Thompson ran for office last April, he wanted to cast a vision for how SGA would work if he were in office.

“Overall, the student body was very responsive,” Thompson said. “There are various philosophies in how student government plays a part in the university. Some say SGA needs to be more active like a second Student Activities. I see SGA as more or less a servant leadership position.”

According to Thompson, SGA most succeeds when they are servant leaders to the student body and represent the needs of students to the administration. One such responsibility of SGA is allocating funds to the 122 clubs on campus.

“One of the largest concerns we started with was club funding,” Thompson said, reflecting on the beginning of his term. “SGA plays a huge role in club life on campus.”

Prior to Thompson’s leadership, each club had access to approximately $1,200, and the process to claim those funds was unnecessarily complicated. Now, clubs have easier access to a larger amount of funding.

“Now, most clubs have funds of up to $2,000,” Thompson said. “One of the highlights this year is how much we have simplified club funding.”

Thompson said senators care deeply for what the student body really needs. SGA has written and passed bills to simplify complexities on campus and to prepare for anticipated growth in the future.

“It’s been fun to work with the club leaders and other SGA leaders,” Thompson said. “My motto is: I try to leave it better than what I found it.”

In addition to working with club funding, another of the major projects Thompson tackled this school year was the SGA constitution.

“We’ve helped draft a new constitution for SGA,” Thompson said. “We felt like the old one had some holes in it — some gray areas.”

After attempts to patch those holes, SGA ultimately decided to write a new constitution in preparation for the growing student body.

“By 2020, we’re going to have 16,000 (residential students),” Thompson said. “At the rate the university is growing, we needed to start to draft a document that is going to sustain that growth.”

Thompson’s servant leader approach to student government applies to his view of success as well.

“I’ve always been a person that thinks success is never defined by how much recognition you have from others,” Thompson said. “Our culture highlights people on major platforms, but there are people in the background that are pursuing hard work. I see success as behind the scenes. (Success) is more of a quiet thing — a private thing.

If you are where God has called you, and you do the work with integrity, honesty and excellence, then you don’t need a billboard or a platform saying, ‘Look what this guy has done.’”

Thompson plans to run for re-election as student body president in April. His running mate, Jack Heaphy, is currently serving as junior class president.

“I look forward to pursing another year in serving students,” Thompson said. “Last year we had three days of physical campaigning, and it was exhausting, but it was fun.

This year, I’m running with my good friend Jack Heaphy.”

The SGA elections will take place Wednesday, April 15 from 8 a.m.–5p.m.

Hoosier is a news reporter.