Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Wuddup Swarthmore College!
My name is Sean Bryant and I am running for the position of Campus Life Representative. To share a little about myself for those who do not know, I am a junior from Mt. Vernon, NY, double-majoring in Black Studies and Religion. I am a member on the baseball team and an intern in the BCC. Within my time at Swarthmore I have been the President of SASS (Swarthmore African-American Student Society), a member of Essence of Soul, and a co-founder of the poetry group OASIS. With my dedicated time and energy to these groups, I have found myself being a part of many different circles, meeting various people, and learning a lot about the many interesting facets of Swarthmore’s campus life. Awesome right? But wait, there’s more!
As a general member of ABLLE (Achieving Black and Latino Leaders of Excellence) I started and organized the annual Night At The Apollo Variety Show at Olde Club that collects donations for those in Haiti. As the President of SASS I organized SASS’s Grown & Sexy Paces Party and the Battle of the Sexes Volleyball game that have been featured for Black History last February. As a member of Essence of Soul, I helped organize Jamboree when it was Essence’s year to host the annual acapella extravaganza. More recently, I am currently helping to organize and plan the Night at the Apollo again. Not to mention that as a BCC intern I am responsible for organizing many of the events of this years upcoming Black History Month. Within this upcoming Black History Month, some of the events include a movie series for one of which is a documentary in which the director will be in attendance. I am also partially responsible for getting Joshua Bennett here at Swat! With having these many different jobs and responsibilities I have learned how to stay organized and help manage these various groups while managing the everyday stress of being a Swattie. My involvement with these various groups and organizations is very important to me and to my life here at Swarthmore and that is why as Campus Life Representative I hope, using my various interactions with these circles, to make Student Council more available and approachable to student groups. Isn’t that awesome? But wait, there’s more!
This past winter, I interned at a Communications firm in which I organized media kits and did research for future advertising projects, which will be implemented in the future. I also learned how to effectively market to a broader audience and help a variety of people feel represented. I hope to implement those skills when it comes time for me to be the direct line of communication for my fellow Swatties and Student Council. One project that I have in mind to make that possible is an “Air It Out” campaign to go along with our future Tumblr page. “Air It Out” will function as a median to raise concerns about Campus Life. All submissions have the option of being anonymous, that way if students do not feel comfortable identifying themselves, they do not need to. To get this started, I think that it would be imperative to let many of the student groups know that with a quick click they too can voice some of their concerns about things that may be happening on campus that some other students may not notice. Think that’s interesting but wait… there’s more! Last thing though, I promise!
I would not feel right without closing my platform by saying that I love Swarthmore and everything that it offers. From the student body to the activities, my time at Swat has had its ups and downs but I can say that I have become a better person for it. As a well-rounded individual who finds himself in many nooks and crannies of Swarthmore’s campus supplying fresh ideas I think I would be a perfect person to elected as your Student Council Campus Life Representative.
