Students at Nicholls are saying goodbye to one Student Government Association president while welcoming another on May 17.Jaret Hubbell, psychology senior from Thibodaux, will be graduating this semester and leaving his position of SGA President behind. Damian “Dee” Breaux, athletic training sophomore from Lockport, will take office as the new SGA president.
Hubbell has been active in the SGA for the past four years. He served as an education senator for two years and director of student rights and grievances for one year before assuming presidency in 2003.
Last year, Hubbell said he worked a great deal on the student advocate idea, which provided round the clock access to students who had grievances or concerns. He also helped with the formation of the election commission. “Alcie Maxwell (former SGA President), he created it; I just implemented it,” Hubbell said.
This year he has been working on the “revamping” of the internal SGA policies. “We have taken a crack at, I think, every document that we have and some that we have created,” Hubbell said.
The biggest challenge Hubbell said he faced was a lack of manpower. “We do not have enough people with enough time, enough energy to do all that we want to do, and that is to serve the students,” Hubbell said.
Hubbell regrets having to leave Breaux with the responsibility to take care of all the constitutional amendments that were passing at the end of this semester.
He also was not pleased that the SGA fee increase failed. “I regret that the student body did not vote to approve the fee increase; in no way do I regret our campaign for it,” Hubbell said. “And I think the student body fudged up on that one.”
After graduation, Hubbell plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychological counseling, will be getting married in August and said he will be a proud supporter of Nicholls as an alum.
He said the thing that will stand out most during his time as president will be just a general feeling of working with everyone on campus and how there are so many people who “really want to do a good job here and make a difference.”
As for what he will remember most from his time in the SGA, that would have to be seeing former SGA President Alcie Maxwell dancing on top of his desk two years ago to “The Cha Cha Song.”
Hubbell has some advice for the new president. “Do not worry about people’s bullshit; listen to everybody’s advice; have an extra suit and tie in your office in case somebody springs an emergency meeting on you; and have fun because it only lasts a year.”
A transition period has been going on since February 20, when Breaux saw he had no one running against him for SGA president.
Breaux has been an active member of the SGA for five semesters. He served as freshman senator for one year, life sciences and technology senator for one semester and Supreme Court justice for one semester.
Breaux had plans to create a House of Student Organizations, but without the SGA fee increase, he said it is “pointless.” The House of Student Organizations would have been a legislative body of student organizations that would allocate funds amongst themselves without the approval of the Student Senate. “With the budget cuts we are having to make right now, it is really not appeasable,” Breaux said.
Breaux is now working on rules of trial for the Supreme Court guidelines and how procedures should be handled. This will have to pass through the Senate.
He also has plans to update the SGA website by creating a web master position. The person in this position would be responsible for running the slide shows during Senate meetings and updating the website. Breaux would like for this to be a paid position, but that depends on if the Senate approves of his budget.
One challenge Breaux will face as president is the lack of manpower. “We have five senators coming back for next fall, and that is all we have right now,” Breaux said.
Breaux hopes that as the new SGA president he will not be put in a situation regarding bringing back the Colonel mascot. He said right now only his family is asking him questions about the mascot situation. “I get a feeling I may be in a fight with bringing Tillou back or something,” Breaux said. “I hope that is settled.”
This summer Breaux plans on running for the student spot on the University of Louisiana System board. This will be elected during one of the Council of Student Body Presidents meeting.
“Nicholls has not held the spot in a while, and I think it is time for us to get it back,” Breaux said. “That student has a voice in the whole system.”
Breaux encourages anyone who is interested in taking an active part in the SGA or anyone who has concerns to stop by the SGA office. He will be extending office hours next semester to accommodate students with night classes or those who work. “As long as the union is open, I am going to try to keep this office open,” he said.
