I am sad, to say the least

This archived article was written by: Emma Campbell

I am sad. Sad to see little to no improvement within the relationship between student leaders on Eastern’s campus. When I say “leaders on campus,” I do not just mean student government, resident advisors, SUN Center, ambassadors, student success leaders and student support services. I mean everyone in a position that leads a group of students on campus; club presidents, editors on the newspaper and athletic captains.
All year, we as student leaders have been told to work with the other leaders on campus. With each reminder to be better, our communication has deteriorated.
What happened?
I know that there will always be problems, nothing will ever be perfect, but all of the gossiping, hypocrisy and rule breaking has to stop.
The gossiping I hear every single day, that I will admit I am not immune to, is destroying any hope of fixing leadership groups. Whether it be true or not, if one person says something negative to another person on this campus, it spreads. I am tired of people seeking to find a reason to bring another down.
Hypocrisy, we all would like to say we are not hypocrites. We are ALL hypocrites. This spring semester, I have heard hypocritical comments everywhere I turn. Student leaders, you cannot tell another group, another individual to change something when you do the same thing and are not willing to change. I cannot explain how annoyed I am with the hypocrisy on this campus.
Eastern’s student leaders know the rules. We have been told, “you are an example to everyone on this campus.” When we break these rules, we are not only setting a bad example for students but make our groups look irresponsible. I believe it is important to be that example to others.
I am sad. I am sad because I expected something different from my leadership experience at Utah State University Eastern. Do not get me wrong, my leadership position and relationships that started because of leadership mean everything to me and maybe that’s why this is so hard for me to understand. I have been told from leaders from years past that this is nothing new. If it is nothing new, why hasn’t it changed? I have heard that it is much better than years past, but as a new leader, all these problems make me strongly rethink participating in leadership again or recommending it to others.
It is simple, at least I like to think it is. Student leaders at USU Eastern need to grow up. They need to let petty arguments go and move on. Stop dragging things out that can be resolved with a conversation. I hope that there is an open dialogue between leaders while finding a solution to this problem.
It is the teamwork that is missing from Eastern’s student leaders. I work at an elementary school and we recently talked about teamwork. I am sad to see that fourth and fifth graders are better at teamwork than grown adults in positions of power. One student told me during our discussion about teamwork that, “teamwork is being kind to each other.” I wasn’t happy with the answer at first, but thought about it a lot afterward and now believe that it is true. You cannot have successful teamwork, or even leadership, without kindness. Our leaders on campus are severely lacking in working together to make Eastern better. That should be our ultimate goal and it is obviously not on the mind of our leaders.
“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence”.