Devon Rice, Utah Tech University’s first student body president, went above and beyond to provide the student body with a sense of connection and involvement to the heart of our school’s core values: “Active Learning. Active Life.”
To the next student body president, we hope you will continue to do the same.
While our job as student journalists is to report on a variety of events, people and cultures of Utah Tech, we heavily rely on the student body president to help provide us and our school with that sense of positive community to be able to do so.
The strongest way to do this is by continuing to provide students with inclusive and unique events on campus, focusing on improving mental health awareness, and making sure to be a friendly face to everyone.
Rice went above and beyond by making himself that friendly face we all knew. He attended almost every game, pageant and activity. He also talked to and engaged with students as much and as often as he could.
That is exactly the kind of person we want to continue to represent Utah Tech.
Utah Tech’s Student Association plans and offers free activities every Wednesday which includes everything from movie nights to dances. We hope to see more of these events happen because we know they have increased student involvement by allowing inclusivity and easy accessibility for students. In this next year, we hope to see a variety of events for everyone, including more mental health focused activities.
Mental health is a serious issue on our campus and something most of us have struggled with. Rice made efforts to increase mental health awareness through the Booth Wellness Center. This is something our new student body president can make even more of a difference with in regard to the resources Utah Tech is already providing. Revamping the Booth Wellness Center, along with having mental health centered Wednesday activities are two efforts we know would have a positive impact on students.
As Utah Tech continues to adjust from its name change, the perception of Utah Tech from outside eyes needs to change as well. Once known as the “party school” of Utah is now a highly accredited and successful university that has kept its core of affordability and active learning opportunities strong.
Having a student body president who is able to help push this perception shift and dispel common rumors is extremely important. As student journalists, our purpose is to help represent the school and highlight all of the amazing things Utah Tech is providing for its students. Our student body president should continue to push Utah Tech’s outward appearance forward while the name change is still settling into the community.
Being as strong in your opinions as Rice was, having the same confidence he presented, and being willing to learn and adapt quickly are all traits the new student body president should exhibit to be as successful in this next year.
Becoming the student body president is no easy task nor an easy feat to continually uphold once rewarded with the title. We know how much work UTSA and the student body president do to make this campus as great as it can be and are incredibly grateful for every opportunity, we, as students, are able to take advantage of.
We are excited to work closely with the new student body president and know they will do great at fulfilling this role with the support of the amazing student body at Utah Tech.
Here’s to a new beginning as student body president and an even better year moving forward as Utah Tech University.
