Student Spotlight: Josh Todd enriches Western

By Danielle Dodson

For two years, Missouri Western’s Student Government Association has been under the command of Josh Todd, who was voted into the presidential office in 2008.
Todd began his involvement with student senate in 2007, during his first year of college. He notes that his involvement with speech and debate inspired his first decision to run for office.

“I was heavily involved with debate and forensics in high school,” Todd said. “I knew that I wanted to be involved in student government when I arrived, but I didn’t know how easy it would be to begin to run. After my year in the senate, I didn’t want to see all the progress we made disappear, so I ran again.”

After landing the office for President, Todd took action immediately by renovating the constitution, making it more student-friendly. Todd said he feels that this was the most important thing before any other action during his term.

“When I came into office, it was clear we needed to open the SGA to students by making it visible,” Todd said. “The SGA executive staff is voted upon by students, it’s just as much their office as it is ours. I knew from the beginning that we would need to open our doors to them and let them know that helping them out was our sole purpose in being here.”

Whether it be communication with the parking staff about the shortage of available lots, or being a student advocate when there is an issue with university administration, Todd is always ready and willing to assist the student body in making their college experience more enjoyable. Ernest Chamblee, the executive vice president of SGA, feels that Todd has made an excellent addition to campus.

“From the beginning of the campaign, I knew that Josh had big plans and big goals for SGA,” Chamblee said. “He is one of the most driven, efficient, and hard-working people I know. Just knowing how much he really cares about where Western is heading, and about the happiness of the students here is one reason I’m happy he’s president. He’s big on helping people, and that makes him great in office.”

Looking back on his years in office, Todd notes some of his personal successes, and denotes most of them in his plan to hold a T-shirt drive, in exchange for student’s opinions about changes that needed to be made on campus.

“We gave away shirts in exchange for students to write down one thing they wished they could change about student life at Western,” Todd said. “Most of the complaints were about parking, of course. So, we formed a task force of voices to discuss that issue with administration.”

Todd said many other complaints ranged from not having enough seating areas for students to relax between classes, to small issues like cafeteria food. In response to that particular issue the SGA purchased picnic tables in response, and are pleased with the positive response they received from students.

“It shows that it’s really worth it to simply ask how student life could be improved, and then make actions to fix it,” Todd said. “If I can’t personally fix the issue, then at least I can point someone in the right direction to get it accomplished.”

Dillon Harp, student governor, agrees with Todd, saying that student involved was crucial to the successes of Todd’s two years, but also his willingness to make change in the first place.

“Josh has been driven on helping students and administration from day one,” Harp said. “He’s very smart, goal-oriented, and has always been willing to listen to student issues and help them out.”

Upon his graduation with a degree in Business, Todd knows that the SGA will be left in great hands.

“I was worried because this year, the lack of candidates has left the Presidential office uncontested,” Todd said. “But I know that we have a successful system, and everything that we have put in place will give the next administration a great place to begin and promote the same change we have put in place for the past two years.”