Student Body President Rob Hayden knows SMU. A Student Senate member since his freshman year, Hayden has been steadfast in his efforts to strengthen the student body, as well as promoting the accomplishments and improvements the school has made since his enrollment. In a recent interview the current President sat down and candidly discussed the issues and concerns of SMU, and what he wants to contribute as a leader to the university while in office.
L: Rob, you’re one of the youngest student body presidents in the history of Southern Methodist University. Why did you decide to run as a rising junior?
R: I decided to run probably, well actually because I was very interested in the issues that I thought were surrounding the campaign, and I thought they were kind of my strong suit. Two other candidates that were rising juniors were strong candidates definitely in their own right, but I thought I offered something maybe a little different, something new that was very attractive to the issues that students were concerned about.
L: Have you seen any negative feedback or lack of respect from the administration or the student body with your junior status?
R: Not at all from the administrators. I think that a lot of times they find it to be even more exciting. They seem to think, “Oh wow, this person may actually have something going if you know they’re able to get elected as a rising junior. From the student body it might be a little bit more difficult to reach out to older leaders on campus, but it really doesn’t take much time fore me to begin to communicate with people and them to realize that we’re on the same playing field.
L. Can you give me a brief update on what you’ve accomplished thus far as president?
R: Certainly. We started the year with a very interesting bang, being from the president’s task force recommendation regarding social event registration. There was a backlash from a lot of organizations, specifically the IFC, about registering social events, and I’m glad that I could say I played an integral role, or our Student Body Officers, played an integral role in the communication between the two bodies: the IFC and the administration. We softened the message back and forth between the two and got some of it amended, and a working document that helped a lot with that. Also, we’ve done a lot of work advertising the new Second Century Campaign with informing the students on what it actually is, helping them understand it and get involved because it’s obviously a big thing for our students to be involved in. A third thing we are starting to work on is a full plan of what students are going to recommend as our version of the second year housing experience, and what we would like to recommend to the board of trustees as our version of that.
L: What are your goals for SMU while you’re running the school?
R: I wouldn’t say I’m running the school, but I definitely would like to see us develop a plan for a new student center. I know there’s a lot of focus on a new second year housing requirement, and it might be incorporated in that. The Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports was a student led change. Some of the students came to the administration and said, “Look, our athletic center is not good enough for a recreation space,” and the Dedman Center was born. I think the new student center is going to be the next thing that the SMU body starts and hopefully, finishes.
L: What would you change about the relationship between the administration and the student body?
R: I am more and more pleasantly surprised every day, and I promise that this is a sincere statement. They’re really welcoming and very open. Obviously, they are professionals and have jobs to do that span beyond even what we understand, but I find them to be very, very open. I just left a meeting with President Turner, who’s been working endlessly through the last three days on the Second Century Campaign presentations, and sat for forty-five minutes and just talked. It was incredible to see him exhausted and still have time for students.
L: How has this huge responsibility affected your life thus far in terms of school and social activities?
R: It has definitely made me cut back. I’m taking a shorter schedule of only 12 hours because I knew I couldn’t be able to handle 15, so it’s definitely been an interesting balance. Right now school hasn’t gotten too hard yet; we’ll see in a month. My social life has definitely calmed down a bit, but becoming an upperclassmen makes my social activities are a little more relaxed anyways.
L: What do you want to be when you grow up and why?
R: Successful because my mom told me so. No, I assume I will apply to law school and see how that works out. I eventually want to be doing something where I’m working with people, whether that’s being an attorney, or being able to reach out to a lot of people and make some sort of difference, but definitely being engaged with a large number of people.
