At TSG’s first State of the Campus address, leaders debuted a pledge and played games with attendees.
Yesterday’s first Temple Student Government State of the Campus meeting of the semester demonstrated TSG’s commitment not only to making meetings livelier, but also to encouraging students to serve their community.
The meeting, which convened in room 200C of the Howard Gittis Student Center, kicked off with an introduction of the new student pledge by TSG President Kylie Patterson and TSG Director of Public Affairs Renee Gordon.
“What is the one thing we can all stand behind?” Patterson said. “I think it’s important to take pride as a university and have school spirit.”
Gordon, Patterson and the room of students, faculty and staff then read the pledge together.
“As a Temple Owl, I pledge to uphold the highest principles of honesty and integrity in and outside of the classroom as founder Russell Conwell intended. I embrace Temple’s commitment to excellence, diversity and respect for the community; these values define my path. I take pride in saying, ‘I am a Temple Owl,’” they said in unison.
Gordon said the pledge would be implemented at sports games, including the upcoming men’s basketball game against LaSalle University.
After reading the pledge, a collaboration Patterson worked on with five other students and Senior Vice Provost Elizabeth Leebron Tutelman, Vice President of External Affairs Anthony Leyro, Director of Marketing Damon Deshields and Director of Information Technology Steuart Wright initiated a game called “Hoot Down the Walk,” a whisper-down-the-lane-like game to introduce TSG’s community initiative.
TSG members whispered the three Cs of community service — commitment, consistency and consciousness — to attendees in each row, until the first row in the room won. Prizes were TSG umbrellas, bags and T-shirts.
Jamira Burley, TSG director of community affairs, and Jessica Reed, TSG director of local affairs explained the purpose of TSG’s 3Cs Campaign.
“We want to bridge the gap between the Temple community and the outside community,” Reed said.
“[3Cs] is not just a one-day event, but a community service project that has the three Cs,” Burley said. “It’s to get students to give back not just to give back, but because you really care about the lives of the people in the community.”
College of Liberal Arts Senator Max Cuddy discussed community service projects in the works, from Philly Eco Kids, a program for students to teach youth about environmental issues, to volunteering at Tree House Books, which cultivates creative youth in reading, writing and thinking.
“A common theme you’ll see is Temple University students working with the youth of Philadelphia,” Cuddy said.
The rest of the meeting included time for students to air any complaints or suggestions to TSG, and any student who spoke received TSG umbrellas.
Before this segment of the address, Alvaro Watson, president of the student organization Temple University Purpose, reminded everyone in the room why they should participate in community service.
“Everyone here wants a healthy résumé,” he said. “But we also want to think about how others are benefitting as well.”
Joshua Fernandez can be reached at josh@temple.edu.
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