{"id":126129,"date":"2020-08-26T16:57:15","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=126129"},"modified":"2020-08-27T09:57:33","modified_gmt":"2020-08-27T15:57:33","slug":"7-questions-with-sga-president-aidan-meadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=126129","title":{"rendered":"Seven questions with SGA President Aidan Meadows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"610\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-750x610.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-750x610.jpg 750w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-300x244.jpg 300w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-1536x1250.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-2048x1667.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Aidan Meadows, president of the Student Government Association (left) pictured with vice president Rachel Cauwels.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aidan Meadows, new president of the UCCS Student Government Association, sat down with Communique to talk about a &#8220;historic&#8221; fall semester, the importance of student advocacy and how, just days into the semester, SGA is already hitting the ground running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><style>#sp-ea-126159 .spcollapsing { height: 0; overflow: hidden; transition-property: height;transition-duration: 500ms;}#sp-ea-126159.sp-easy-accordion>.sp-ea-single {margin-bottom: 10px; border: 1px solid #e2e2e2; }#sp-ea-126159.sp-easy-accordion>.sp-ea-single>.ea-header a {color: #444;}#sp-ea-126159.sp-easy-accordion>.sp-ea-single>.sp-collapse>.ea-body {background: #fff; color: #444;}#sp-ea-126159.sp-easy-accordion>.sp-ea-single {background: #eee;}#sp-ea-126159.sp-easy-accordion>.sp-ea-single>.ea-header a .ea-expand-icon { float: left; color: #444;font-size: 16px;}<\/style><div id=\"sp_easy_accordion-1784662590\"><div id=\"sp-ea-126159\" class=\"sp-ea-one sp-easy-accordion\" data-ea-active=\"ea-click\" data-ea-mode=\"vertical\" data-preloader=\"\" data-scroll-active-item=\"\" data-offset-to-scroll=\"0\"><div class=\"ea-card ea-expand sp-ea-single\"><h3 class=\"ea-header\"><a class=\"collapsed\" id=\"ea-header-1261590\" role=\"button\" data-sptoggle=\"spcollapse\" data-sptarget=\"#collapse1261590\" aria-controls=\"collapse1261590\" href=\"#\" aria-expanded=\"true\" tabindex=\"0\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"ea-expand-icon eap-icon-ea-expand-minus\"><\/i> 1. Tell us about yourself. What are you studying?<\/a><\/h3><div class=\"sp-collapse spcollapse collapsed show\" id=\"collapse1261590\" data-parent=\"#sp-ea-126159\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"ea-header-1261590\"> <div class=\"ea-body\"><p><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-121118\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-Fall-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p><\/p><p>I\u2019m from Chicago. The suburbs of Chicago, technically. I should say that before I get called out on it. I\u2019m a junior political science and psychology double major. I\u2019m also applying to the accelerated Master\u2019s in Public Administration, so I\u2019ll start taking classes for that next semester and senior year, and then I\u2019ll take one more year to finish.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ea-card sp-ea-single\"><h3 class=\"ea-header\"><a class=\"collapsed\" id=\"ea-header-1261591\" role=\"button\" data-sptoggle=\"spcollapse\" data-sptarget=\"#collapse1261591\" aria-controls=\"collapse1261591\" href=\"#\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"ea-expand-icon eap-icon-ea-expand-plus\"><\/i> 2. You were elected during the spring semester. What were your initial hopes for SGA this year? Has the pandemic changed your priorities?<\/a><\/h3><div class=\"sp-collapse spcollapse \" id=\"collapse1261591\" data-parent=\"#sp-ea-126159\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"ea-header-1261591\"> <div class=\"ea-body\"><p><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-121118\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-Fall-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p><\/p><p><\/p><p>My vice president Rachel Cauwels and I ran on the belief that SGA has gotten into a rut: we come in, do club funding and then leave. Instead, we wanted to rekindle the relationship between students and SGA by really listening to students, hearing their problems and trying to fix them. We wanted to reach our branches out much further than they were.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>That was the plan. And then COVID hit, and the world turned upside down.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>We won the election and then a week later we got sent home. We were like, \u201cLet\u2019s celebrate! But also, I have to go pack.\u201d<\/p><p> <\/p><p>We went from planning all of these projects and ideas and events, to asking, \u201cHow do we recover from this?\u201d So our focus this year will be all about students. It will be less focused on putting on huge events, and more on advocating for students to the campus administration.<\/p><p><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ea-card sp-ea-single\"><h3 class=\"ea-header\"><a class=\"collapsed\" id=\"ea-header-1261592\" role=\"button\" data-sptoggle=\"spcollapse\" data-sptarget=\"#collapse1261592\" aria-controls=\"collapse1261592\" href=\"#\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"ea-expand-icon eap-icon-ea-expand-plus\"><\/i> 3. What role has student governance played in the return to campus this semester?<\/a><\/h3><div class=\"sp-collapse spcollapse \" id=\"collapse1261592\" data-parent=\"#sp-ea-126159\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"ea-header-1261592\"> <div class=\"ea-body\"><p><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-121118\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-Fall-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p>As the administration figures out financials and logistics, we\u2019ve been there to make sure that students\u2019 voices are heard, and that their opinions matter.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>Rachel and I spent the whole summer sitting in on recovery team meetings. We were there to make sure that as we transitioned back to school and instituted health guidelines, that student experience portion was still preserved as best as possible.<\/p><p><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ea-card sp-ea-single\"><h3 class=\"ea-header\"><a class=\"collapsed\" id=\"ea-header-1261593\" role=\"button\" data-sptoggle=\"spcollapse\" data-sptarget=\"#collapse1261593\" aria-controls=\"collapse1261593\" href=\"#\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"ea-expand-icon eap-icon-ea-expand-plus\"><\/i> 4. As Chancellor Reddy recently said, this is a \u201chistoric\u201d semester. Share what it\u2019s been like for you to return to campus this academic year.<\/a><\/h3><div class=\"sp-collapse spcollapse \" id=\"collapse1261593\" data-parent=\"#sp-ea-126159\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"ea-header-1261593\"> <div class=\"ea-body\"><p><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-121118\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-Fall-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p>When the pandemic hit, I was really down in the dumps. Our school shut down. We were kicked out. I was thinking, \u201cThis is going to change everything. This could throw off my entire career path. Is my whole degree plan going to be offset? Is there a gap year that needs to happen?\u201d These are all very valid questions that every student had to ask, including me.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>But as I started working with the recovery teams this summer, my whole outlook flip-flopped.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>This year sucks. I\u2019m not going to sugarcoat it. But I realized that this year is a chance to learn. Learning to deal with these issues and tackle this year is going to improve critical thinking skills, problem-solving, decision-making\u2026all attributes that employers look for. This is just another big learning opportunity. This is just another obstacle that we\u2019re going to figure out how to adapt to.<\/p><p><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ea-card sp-ea-single\"><h3 class=\"ea-header\"><a class=\"collapsed\" id=\"ea-header-1261594\" role=\"button\" data-sptoggle=\"spcollapse\" data-sptarget=\"#collapse1261594\" aria-controls=\"collapse1261594\" href=\"#\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"ea-expand-icon eap-icon-ea-expand-plus\"><\/i> 5. Now that students are back in school for the semester, what are you focused on?<\/a><\/h3><div class=\"sp-collapse spcollapse \" id=\"collapse1261594\" data-parent=\"#sp-ea-126159\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"ea-header-1261594\"> <div class=\"ea-body\"><p><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-121118\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-Fall-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p><\/p><p>Now that students are back, we\u2019re more able to hear about their concerns and frustrations. For instance, we heard almost immediately that the new campus shuttle route, which was updated because of COVID, was not working for our students.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>Rachel and I were able to be on a call with [executive director of parking and transportation] Jim Spice. Those routes will now be updated to include stops that students needed. So, as we promised in our campaign, we\u2019re hitting the ground running.<\/p><p><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ea-card sp-ea-single\"><h3 class=\"ea-header\"><a class=\"collapsed\" id=\"ea-header-1261595\" role=\"button\" data-sptoggle=\"spcollapse\" data-sptarget=\"#collapse1261595\" aria-controls=\"collapse1261595\" href=\"#\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"ea-expand-icon eap-icon-ea-expand-plus\"><\/i> 6. How would you characterize your leadership style?<\/a><\/h3><div class=\"sp-collapse spcollapse \" id=\"collapse1261595\" data-parent=\"#sp-ea-126159\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"ea-header-1261595\"> <div class=\"ea-body\"><p><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-121118\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-Fall-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p><\/p><p>I\u2019d say my leadership style very much rests on taking on a ton of different projects, and being a collaborative leader.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>I take on as much as possible to get as much as possible done. But one thing I\u2019m already realizing is that I don\u2019t have to do everything \u2013 and oftentimes it\u2019s best that I don\u2019t do everything. It frees me up to focus on the projects that are important to me, and it allows others to do the same. And the work turns out better in the end.<\/p><p><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"ea-card sp-ea-single\"><h3 class=\"ea-header\"><a class=\"collapsed\" id=\"ea-header-1261596\" role=\"button\" data-sptoggle=\"spcollapse\" data-sptarget=\"#collapse1261596\" aria-controls=\"collapse1261596\" href=\"#\" aria-expanded=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\"><i aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"ea-expand-icon eap-icon-ea-expand-plus\"><\/i> 7. Is there anything you\u2019re excited about for the upcoming year?<\/a><\/h3><div class=\"sp-collapse spcollapse \" id=\"collapse1261596\" data-parent=\"#sp-ea-126159\" role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"ea-header-1261596\"> <div class=\"ea-body\"><p><\/p><div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-121118\" src=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-Fall-Headshot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"75\" \/><\/figure><\/div><p><\/p><p>We\u2019re coming up on a really big election year. We\u2019re handling a pandemic. Political and student advocacy has been a hot topic for a long time now, and already, I\u2019m seeing more and more students getting involved. It\u2019s amazing to see that students are noticing how integral student governance can be.<\/p><p> <\/p><p>The university \u2013 whether it\u2019s faculty members or campus leadership \u2013\u00a0will always take time to hear any student. But SGA opens those doors a lot faster. So that\u2019s something I\u2019m really excited about this year: getting a lot more students involved in student advocacy.<\/p><p><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meadows concluded with thoughts on the upcoming year and advice for fellow students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The pandemic is real and ongoing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It is 100 percent true that the future is unknown. But that doesn\u2019t mean that the campus isn\u2019t thinking about it and planning for many different outcomes.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;From an administrative side, it\u2019s important to stress how much work is going into making this semester as successful as possible, and how much students are being taken into consideration. But it\u2019s also important to stress that students should be getting involved, advocating for their concerns and getting in touch with their SGA representatives. To our students, I would say, &#8216;Don\u2019t be afraid to let your voice be heard.'&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meadows expressed that \u2013 despite a pandemic and a highly unusual academic year \u2013 he feels grateful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;In a way, I am so thankful to be where I am in SGA,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I have a voice, and I\u2019m able to make it heard. I no longer feel helpless \u2013&nbsp;like I\u2019m just a leaf blowing in whatever direction the university chooses. Because of SGA, we have a chance to advocate for students, and change the direction of the fan ourselves.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To learn more about SGA, get involved or make your voice heard, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/sga.uccs.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Student Government Association webpage (opens in a new tab)\">Student Government Association webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Aidan Meadows, new president of the UCCS Student Government Association, sat down with Communique to talk about a &#8220;historic&#8221; fall semester, the importance of student advocacy and how, just days into the semester, SGA is already hitting the ground running. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=126129\" title=\"Seven questions with SGA President Aidan Meadows\">(More)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":126153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1,49],"tags":[332,368,134,63],"class_list":["post-126129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-campus-announcements","tag-more-news","tag-student-affairs","tag-student-government-association","tag-student-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Aidan-Meadows-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mBpJ-wOl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=126129"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126169,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126129\/revisions\/126169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/126153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=126129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=126129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=126129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}