Outgoing Student Association President Allie Curtis might be handing over her title and her position, but she says she has no intention of leaving student government.
It may not have been the smoothest presidency, but Curtis says she has learned more than she could have imagined. With mentorship playing such a key role in her presidency, Curtis wants to stick around to help make sure the new president has a clean transition into his or her new role.
On top of helping the president, cabinet and team adjust, Curtis is going to go where no SA president has gone before: she plans to run for a seat on assembly.
“Assembly representation has been very important to me to be able to directly represent people from your home college,” said Curtis. “I’m running for a seat in Newhouse. Obviously Newhouse is near and dear to my heart, and it’s exciting that I can continue to do more there.”
Curtis, a dual public relations and political science senior, said that her time as president did not always go the way she would have liked. She said that being threatened with impeachment and losing half her cabinet were definitely low moments in the term, but she says the experience turned out to be a “blessing in disguise.”
“That toughened me up. It made me realize that I need to be more stringent in my decisions, to be a lot more thorough as a communicator, and overall step up my game as a leader,” she said.
Curtis’ Vice President, Duane Ford agreed.
“I think that there were a lot of lessons learned from the first semester of Allie's Presidency and that there was a good amount of mistakes made by a number of the cabinet members of the Association, including Allie,” said Ford, a political science junior. “I think that she has come out of that experience stronger, and I believe that she has come a long way since then and has run more efficiently and effectively this semester.”
Ford calls Curtis one of his best friends, and says she has always been there for him. He said he wishes he “could have done more and been better to help her succeed” in serving both SA and the entire student body.
Curtis said one of the greatest lessons she learned is how to balance what is important. When she lost half her cabinet, she realized something was not right.
“I selected people based strictly on their qualifications, not on loyalty and trust. I realized: you need to strike a balance between having people who are qualified, people who are trustworthy and people who are loyal,” she said. “You can’t not have one of those pieces as a part of a team if you hope to get anything done and you hope to be effective.”
Curtis’ time as president has taught her how to make tough decisions, which will help prepare her for handling situations that might arise in the future. She said she’s realized the importance of being transparent as a leader and communicating effectively.
Curtis said there is still so much that she wants to finish during her last semester at SU, and by staying involved, she hopes to be able to complete some of those goals.
She looks forward to being able to enjoy her final semester doing what she loves with less pressure and time commitment.
Said Curtis: “To be in a place that you can affect positive change and to be around other people who are passionate about that: it’s infectious. I don’t want to leave it anytime soon.”
