The following is an unedited transcript of an interview between Student Body President Mariam Nguyen and Paladin Editor-in-Chief Carter Ozburn.

Carter Ozburn: What have you enjoyed most about being part of the Student Government Association (SGA) so far?

Mariam Nguyen: I initially joined SGA as a freshman representative, and I’ve honestly loved being a part of it. With SGA, I’ve had the tools to advocate for my peers and also advocate for major issues on campus as well. Throughout each year I’ve been on SGA, I’ve been trying to build more and more upon that.

This year, I’m really looking forward to helping other representatives advocate for their peers and also give them the tools for who to contact and who to reach if they want to get stuff done on campus.

CO: What made you run for the position of president, specifically?

MN: After serving as a representative my freshman and sophomore year here, I knew that I wanted to take SGA a little bit more seriously. So I initially ran for the role of Vice President because I liked that I was directly working with student organizations. With the new role of homecoming court too, I was having so much fun with that position.

I was able to accomplish so much there that I wanted to take it to another level and run as president, both to help all of my peers and then also help representatives advocate for their peers as well. That was a big thing as to why I wanted to run. 

CO: Are there any specific changes you want to make to Furman or to the wider Furman experience this year?

MN: I know most presidents say this, but I do want to serve as a bridge to the student body and our wider administration. As the world is changing and as federal legislation is impacting and trickling down to us at Furman University, these big changes are happening regardless.

A lot of students are feeling disconnected to administration, and that’s the biggest thing for me this year: advocating for my peers and helping SGA be that kind of bridge between the student body and our administration to help discuss these things. I want to host town halls, and I want representatives to directly get feedback from their peers and their classmates.

CO: How do you plan to shift the internal functions of SGA to do that?

MN: My biggest thing this year for SGA was working on external engagement as well as inner group efficiency. Before this year, SGA primarily ran on having representatives complete projects, but now I wanted to formalize them and have them as actual bill proposals. So SGA this year is functioning as a legitimate governing body where representatives are required to propose and pass legislation that represents their peers.

Just today, a representative passed some legislation to help to incorporate more halal food options in the dining hall. I want the representatives to both feel empowered and also directly advocate for what their peers want. So that means going out and communicating with organizations, communicating with their peers and moving forward with these legislative bills.

CO: You’re a very involved individual on campus. What has student involvement meant to you and how has it affected your Furman experience?

MN: I think student involvement has really made me in my Furman career. I would definitely say that. The thing that has really changed my perspective of both academia and also extracurriculars has been my involvement with student government. Because you’re not just interacting as an organization, you’re also interacting with the faculty on campus, with the staff on campus and with upper-level administration.

A lot of the skills that I’ve learned while serving as a student body president this year, and also in my previous experiences on SGA, I’ve been able to take those skills to the real world and also take those skills into my academic experience here. A lot of my other involvements have really tied back to how SGA is functioning this year.

CO:  What experiences have you had that have created that sense of advocacy you’re talking about?

MN: Just in this past year or two, I’ve been really just motivated by recent legislation, especially in our state. I found that it’s very easy to get involved as a constituent with the local government. Two years ago, I organized a coalition of students to go and lobby at the state house against a bill attacking higher education. And then this past year, I helped organize a group of students called Furman Students for Democracy to lead a rally outside the library.

I’ve just been so motivated by recent legislation to advocate for peers, because at an institution like Furman, I think it’s so important. And although we are a private institution, where we receive public funding only in certain capacities, whether or not we like to admit it, it’s still gonna affect us as students. So I think that’s been my biggest source of motivation.

CO: What’s the one thing you want your peers in student government to take from your role as president?

MN: I would love for representatives and elected officials, but also just the general student body, to feel like they have a voice on campus. I think especially post-COVID, a lot of our normal campus processes haven’t really been the same, and now we’re moving back to what campus used to be like. We’re bringing back a lot of old things that were done before. I want representatives to feel like they can advocate for their peers, and also feel like they can accomplish a lot in their roles. That’s why I’m trying to enforce this legislative bill process to ensure that these students understand that they are equipped to advocate for their peers, but also that the general student body understands what we as a council are doing.

I think there’s always been a miscommunication between the general student body and student government, where many students just don’t know what we do on campus, but I’ve always seen that as a kind of SGA issue in that we haven’t necessarily been marketing ourselves in the best way. So that’s why, with the introduction of these legislative bills and also increased [public relations], we’re kind of facilitating more open communication with the student body.

CO: As Student Body President, you represent Furman and the wider community everywhere you go. How do you plan on representing Furman best?

MN:  That’s definitely something that I take very seriously, knowing that my position in student government kind of puts me as a representative for the school. I think that I’ve just tried to be very intentional with how I lead SGA, and how we work together as a council so that all of us feel equipped to discuss certain things or to advocate for others.

Because I think SGA takes a huge role, especially with the greater campus community, with so many alumni and faculty and staff. I also want SGA representatives to lean on our advisors a lot. That’s not something that we’ve necessarily done before but have worked through committees and active SGA processes.

CO: What do you plan on pursuing after graduation? How will your experience with student government stick with you?

MN:  So actually, unlike most of the student body presidents in the past 20 years, I’m actually studying Politics and International Affairs. I think most people come in with this idea that those in SGA are students studying politics, but that’s really not the case. For me, I’ve always been super inclined towards politics, which is what initially drew me into this role.

Post-grad, I definitely want to be working in the political space. Ideally, I would love to work as a legislative assistant doing educational policy in a congressional office in D.C. or working locally in South Carolina directly on legislation that affects South Carolinians, especially in the education realm. Through my involvement in student government, I’ve realized the power of education, and I want to keep pursuing that and advocating for others through my career.

CO: Is there anything else that you would want the students to know?

MN: I want SGA to be positioned to help the student body as much as we can because I think many students have issues or have things that they want to discuss but don’t necessarily know the avenues on how to do that. SGA is always there for the greater student body to discuss these issues. If you need something done, reach out to a SGA representative or a member of the executive [board], and we should respond as soon as possible and help with any issues.