Reflections from Mohamed and Hill on their Administration

Student Body President Roda Mohamed ‘21 and Vice President Rosellyn Hill ‘21 are the first presidential team to have led the student body through a global pandemic at Marist College. From the start of their term, they faced challenges not only created by COVID-19 but also a tumultuous social climate. 

Quickly after being elected President and Vice President of the Student Government Association (SGA) in early March 2020, Mohamed and Hill realized they would address challenges never faced by the college. Shortly after their election, Marist students vacated the campus while COVID-19 rapidly devastated the world. 

Throughout the summer, Mohamed and Hill created a detailed agenda to prepare for the upcoming school year, taking into consideration the prospect of a virtual semester. The duo also led SGA’s summer session, briefing cabinet members and creating a cohesive plan throughout their departments. The summer session was also an important period for SGA leaders to become acquainted and develop their relationships. SGA consists of 77 cabinet members, making strong communication essential.

“Coming into the semester, Roda and I had a very comprehensive plan from the summer,” Hill said. “Throughout our administration we tried to keep the idea of diversity, inclusion and equity present throughout all of our initiatives.”

Following the SGA elections in March 2020, Mohamed became the first Muslim female president of the Marist student body. Along with Hill, they are the first women of color to hold their positions together. From the start of their campaign, Mohamed and Hill’s main priority was to always represent the student body and be liaisons between the students and the college administration. 

“As soon as we got back to campus it was a bit of a shock,” Hill said. “Around two weeks into the first semester, we sat down and realized our goals are going to be very different than planned. We realized we were dealing with more short-term advocacy opposed to long-term goals.”

The SGA administration directed their focus to issues like Conklin Hall, housing, and quarantine. For Mohamed, it also became imperative to be the voice of the students. “Our feedback has been more important than in previous years,” Mohamed said.

During the first semester, Mohamed heard many grievances about Saturday classes from students and professors. She decided it needed to be addressed to improve students’ experiences during an already challenging school year. 

“We were able to communicate with the student body and give that feedback to the college administration, because they were living through something they’ve never experienced either,” Mohamed said.

Along with on-campus initiatives, Mohamed said that this year, SGA developed a stronger presence in Poughkeepsie. Working with a local high school, SGA created a program to help students learn more about financial literacy. 

While addressing various issues on-campus and conducting outreach in the community, Hill believes the SGA administration was able to maintain an underlying focus of their long-term goal of creating more diversity, inclusion and equity at Marist.  

“We were challenging the administration to be more inclusive and reflect the student body,” Hill said. “I think we were able to be a critical voice and also a voice of reason in certain instances.” 

Six clubs were chartered this year which include the National Society for Black Engineers, Pre-Physician Assistants Society, Marist Moderates, Marist Analytics Community, Marist Model U.N. and the African Student Association. By chartering these clubs, Hill said she’s excited that it increases the diversity of club types and involvement. 

Every semester creates its own unique set of challenges. From the start of the fall 2020 semester, Mohamed immediately prioritized mask campaigns followed by vaccine campaigns in the spring. Along with COVID-19, Mohamed and Hill had to also navigate a tense social climate following a summer of grieving and protests for the deaths of multiple unarmed Black men caused by police. “As women of color, we came in when there was so much chaos and we were able to create space and opportunities for the whole student body,” Mohamed said.

“Most of our goals are either accomplished or close,” Mohamed said. “Like the diversity, inclusion and equity curriculum, we are in the process of creating a course.”

There will always be new issues requiring SGA’s focus. For the upcoming fall semester, Mohamed said, “Not only will the college have to deal with the virus, the college will also have to deal with half of the student body feeling productive online and half the student body preferring in-person classes.” 

Nevertheless, Mohamed is reassured that SGA is being led by a motivated and well-equipped team. On April 21, Tenzin Tsundu ‘22 was elected Student Body President alongside Caleb Davis ‘24 as Vice President for the 2021-2022 school year. 

“Both individuals that are going to be leaders next year have been in our administration and have been watching us this year — learning what we’ve done well and where we could have improved,” Mohamed said. “If they represent the student body, then they’ve done their job.”