Ellis Williams

Ellis Williams
Year: 2013
Major: Television-Radio
Hometown: Staten Island, New York
Extra-Curricular Activities: Co- President of Brothers 4 Brothers, Senator of SGA

Why did you decide to attend IC?
I chose to attend IC because I was accepted into the Park School with a major in Television- Radio. I was also given the privilege of being a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar; the campus gave me everything I could ask for. 

What are some of the most influential, thought-provoking, or even
life-changing classes you’ve taken at IC that you’d recommend to your
peers?
This is a difficult question. I definitely would say Critical Race Theory with Dr. Eversley Bradwell. This class allowed me the opportunity to critically engage in topics that include race. The class time was used to develop impacting conversation. My group of classmates was also committed to having those talks and doing the work outside of class, which I really respected and enjoyed.  
 
You and a group of students are running for Student
Government Association (SGA). What’s your platform’s name/motto and
what values does your platform advocate for?
Our ticket’s name is “Be Heard,” we want students to be empowered on campus and find agency in the people who represent them in addition to knowing who they are.  We live in a digital age and human interaction is so limited. We have to begin to incorporate dialogue on various platforms so students, not only come to us to speak on issues relevant to them, but also what will affect the campus in the future.  

Our platform consists of three major components: Active Presence, Support for Campus Life and Transportation. Regarding active presence: our focus is on being at events on campus // present this information so students can enjoy this space.  In regards to campus life, current and newly established student organizations have a tough time receiving or even finding out about the budget process.  I know student organizations that pay to have their own events, now granted it may not be as expensive, but there are resources available to them. They should have access to this information and to funding especially.  Lastly, we are focused on developing more frequent transportation.  We support students through finding safe ways.  Also, currently our ticket is an all- male ticket. However, this does not mean that we have made a conscious decision to exclude women from our ticket.  Candidates who I believed would be great additions to our team were unable to join because of study abroad, obligations with work or leaving for the fall semester of 2013.  With this dynamic, we are actively seeking out the voices of women on campus because being at an executive level means nothing if you are unable to seek out the many facets of campus life in order to provide insight on an experience that you do not have.  We want to educate ourselves while educating the campus on issues that relate to all students.  We need to always strive to be better as individuals and as a collective ticket.  

Our Motto or Slogan is:” SGA is not a Student Organization, it’s the Organization of Students, Be Heard 2013.”
 
Who or what motivated you to become an active participant in the
legislative process?
When I realized that often times, my voice in addition to so many others goes unheard in the world and particularly on campus, I knew that in order to be heard, I needed to become involved.  Given this lens, it’s important that my ticket members and I provide a space for everyone’s voice to be heard in order to discontinue the cycle of a lack of awareness of the issues students face from housing to off campus events.  
 
What are some issues on IC’s campus that your platform would like
to address and/or reform, and how would you like to achieve these
goals?
Our platform seeks to address support for campus life and finding a common Ithaca College Experience, we want the student who studies and gets good grades to feel just as supported as the student whose involved in student organizations.  We seek to achieve this through by having an “SGA Spotlight” where we go out and meet students and celebrate them versus always keeping the praise within the confines of the Senate.  Also, open forum is a time for students to come and speak with the Senate, however, if we turn that into an event outside of SGA this seeks to get students to come out and meet us outside of SGA time and speak to us about some instances in which they may feel we’re not doing our absolute best. 

What’s your definition of leadership?
Leadership is the ability to delegate tasks and trust that the people who you’ve decided to work with are going to complete those tasks; it’s a responsibility to be accountable, transparent and realistic in order to achieve the goals you’ve set out.  Lastly, leadership is the acceptance of critiques and adapting with those critiques to get an outcome that is beneficial to the people. 
 
You’re known around campus as the guy who carries around an old
school boom box named “Betty White.” What are some of your favorite
tracks to blast as you walk through campus?
Wow, The golden girl, that’s my baby, I would have to say, I have a lot of different genres so rap, Paris Jay-Z & Kanye, R&B Casanova- Levert, Pop- I’ll go back in the day and play The Right Stuff by New Kids on the Block.
  
Lastly, what would you like to see yourself doing 10 years after
graduating from IC?
I would like to see myself being on- air talent for a network affiliate, making the transition to a major market, if not, I would like to be a writer making my scripts into feature films and directing them.

Voting for SGA elections opens today and will continue until Friday– make sure that your campus voice is heard!