Harrison Adams, a junior majoring in economics and finance, did not anticipate attending The University of Alabama.

Growing up only an hour and a half away in Selma, Alabama, he was no stranger to Tuscaloosa. He regularly attended athletic events and became familiar with campus. After a family friend convinced him to go on a tour and experience the academic side of campus, he started to reconsider his options.

“All of my best friends from high school went to Auburn, so they got dropped when I got here,” Adams said jokingly.

Despite waiting until the last minute to finalize his college decision, he’s been involved at the University over the past three years and has developed a passion for it.

Adams considers serving students the most rewarding part of his experience. His time with Capstone Men and Women and involvement with the Student Government Association (SGA) has allowed him to interact with individuals, both before they arrive on campus, and again once they have become a part of the student body. Within the SGA, he has spent time as a First Year Councilor, the chair of the External Affairs Committee, a senator for the business school and currently serves as the vice president of External Affairs. After three years of involvement with the SGA, he has announced his candidacy for president.

“With External Affairs, especially this last year being a vice president, I’ve gotten to deal with all different aspects of campus whether it’s parking, recreation, athletics or being off campus with officials from the city and the state,” Adams said.

He believes the knowledge he’s gained of different aspects of campus through these roles would help him if he were to take on the role of SGA president. Although election week is just beginning, his team has been working relentlessly to lay the foundation for a strong campaign.

Darious Davis, a senior majoring in public health, serves as one of Adams’ campaign managers. Davis is the current chief advisor to the president of the SGA.

“I’ve worked with Harrison [Adams] since First Year Council and gotten to see some of the bills he’s sponsored and different things,” Davis said. “So seeing him progress over time and getting to see his work ethic reminds me of ‘students serving students,’ and how I always believe that if you do good by people they’ll do good by you.”

Adams said the process of preparing for this week has been a lot of work and a lot of fun, voicing his excitement about meeting new students, hearing their stories and understanding how he could positively impact their experiences on campus.

Lauren Forrest, a senior majoring in marketing and advertising and the current executive vice president of the SGA, is one of Adams’ campaign managers. Through her involvement with student government, she has worked closely with Adams for several years and said serving on his campaign team has allowed her to know him in a more official role, understanding the goals driving him toward this position.

“This has definitely been a long time coming, I think, for Harrison [Adams],” Forrest said. “Everything he’s done within SGA and with the Capstone Men and Women and just with how he carries himself as a person has really set him up for this position.”

Forrest said the ideas Adams has proposed for his platform make her wonder why they haven’t been addressed yet. His campaign focuses specifically on two issues that affect all members of the campus community: student experience and student health and well-being.

Adams said adjusting the academic calendar is a priority for him. He proposed an extension of Thanksgiving break, allowing a full week to accommodate the increasing number of out-of-state students, which was 56.7 percent of the University’s student population in the fall semester of 2018, according to the UA website.

“I’d like to focus on mental health by offering online counseling services,” Adams said. “Our Counseling Center is awesome, but sometimes it can get backed up because we have so many students on campus. If a student needs to see a counselor, they should be able to do it immediately with the click of a button.”

Adams also plans to relocate the Intercultural Diversity Center that is currently housed on the first floor of the Riverside Annex. He said this is a valuable resource, but could be more beneficial and more effectively utilized with a more accessible, centralized location.

Extending the period during which a student can drop a class without receiving a Withdrawal (W), introducing electric bikes and scooters to campus, improving the gameday experience by providing charging stations in the student section and allowing students to use Dining Dollars at concessions are a few more of the ideas Adams has envisioned.

Along with these specific goals to improve student experience while on campus, Adams said his overarching goal is to make the University a place that welcomes every student. He wants his peers to return to Tuscaloosa after they’ve graduated and view it as a place that was always a home for them.

“Over the course of my college career, I’ve really developed a passion for seeing my peers and my friends be the best they can possibly be and reach their full potential,” Adams said. “Any avenue that I can have to help them do that, I want to take. I think being SGA president is one of those avenues.”