SGA President Elliot Spillers attended the National Campus Leadership Council’s 2015 Presidential Leadership Summit on May 31 through June 1. Over the span of two days, 150 student body leaders from across the nation attended the conference discussing issues that face the modern campus culture.
Spillers said he wanted to explore how he could incorporate his six dimensions of wellness (social, physical, emotional, financial, spiritual and environmental) with the main issues that were at hand at the Presidential Leadership Summit.
“Sexual assault was the primary topic that we discussed, which is a national issue. It was great because we could see what other institutions are doing that are successful, and also we talked about issues that we have on our campus and how we plan to tackle them,” Spillers said.
The Spillers administration is working on incorporating an It’s On Us campaign, which will promote positive awareness for sexual assault as well as create open forums for the student body.
“It is a big goal of mine to tackle this with different spheres and with different leaders,” Spillers said.
This ongoing problem is also an issue that hits home with Spillers, who has a close friend who was a survivor of sexual assault. The beginning of the Spillers’ administration in the fall will coincide with what is known as the “red zone.”
“Most sexual assaults occur within the first two months once the students return for the fall semester, and it is statistically proven,” Spillers said.
Spillers said this is a major obstacle that he will be attempting to eliminate in the initial stages of his administration.
Regina Martel, communications administrator for the Presidential Leadership Summit, had this to say about Elliot’s upcoming administrative objective regarding sexual assault awareness:
“The issues that are facing our generation are really difficult to try and tackle. We know that too many students on campus don’t feel safe. We know the statistics around campus sexual assault. We know that too many students don’t get help for any sort of mental illness and that suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students. That’s why it is so important to try and work together to come up with solutions. At PLS we’re able to connect the student leaders who can help shape not only what’s happening on their own campuses, but what’s happening on campuses around the country, so we can lean on each other and really start to drive the change we need to see on all these issues.”
The topic of mental health was one of the crucial themes. In the previous year, four students from The University of Alabama died by suicide.
“The way the SGA is going to tackle the topic of mental health is with the three-prong approach: awareness, education and how to sustain the efforts,” Spillers said.
Spillers and Auburn’s SGA President, William Byrd, also teamed up to share ideas regarding the matter. Auburn has created a program known as Active Minds, which is an organization to help with mental awareness.
“Active Minds at Auburn is a student-run organization that seeks to inform, educate and promote mental health awareness to the Auburn students and Auburn community through fundraising and outreach efforts,” Byrd said.
In the upcoming weeks Spillers and the University of Alabama’s SGA will host the SEC-SGA exchange program. Universities such as Georgia, Missouri, Ole Miss and more will attend the conference, in which they will tackle issues effecting the campus culture within the SEC.
