SGA presidential candidate Marquis Hollingsworth describes the most important role of an SGA president as being the “representation of all students on campus.”

If elected, Hollingsworth said he hopes to incite a “culture change” in SGA operations through an increase in transparency and direct communication with students. During his time at the University, Hollingsworth, a junior majoring in general business, has been involved with many different groups on campus.

Hollingsworth grew up in the Birmingham area and he spent his high school years in Homewood, Alabama.

“Homewood is a great little community,” Hollingsworth said. “We love music, we love the arts and we love sports. Everybody got the chance to touch a little bit of everything.”

Initially, Hollingsworth was interested in The University of Alabama because of the music program, but he said he made the decision to commit because of the people he met while visiting campus.

“The people are what really sold me on joining the Capstone,” Hollingsworth said. “I’d say that [the University] is a diverse community of friends and people from different areas.”

Hollingsworth said recognizing the University is made up of a diverse population of students with unique goals and interests has been key in his experience. Along with an understanding of campus diversity, Hollingsworth said he discovered some groups on campus receive more representation than others.

“I want everybody to have a voice,” Hollingsworth said. “I want people to realize you don’t have to be a certain stereotype to run for this position and that I’m not some out-of-touch machine that does not interact with people.”

For three years, Hollingsworth has been a member of the Million Dollar Band. He said his time spent on the drumline taught him the value of working on something until it’s perfect.

“I’m not satisfied with anything mediocre,” Hollingworth said. “I’m always trying to make things better, always trying to build better, stronger connections with people.”

Additionally, Hollingworth has been a part of the Freshman Forum and Avanti Orientation Team, where he served as the student coordinator. He is a member of the professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi.

“I’ve been able to touch so many different corners of campus,” Hollingsworth said. “I think it has made me more open-minded and willing to listen.”

Hollingsworth has served as an SGA senator for the College of Business for the past year. He is currently working on creating a committee within the College of Business that would sponsor a community service day, communication between business organizations on campus and a mentoring program for freshmen majoring in business.

He and his campaign team have created a platform composed of three key goals: increased public health and safety, transparency of SGA and improved student life. Through his platform, Hollingsworth said he intends to make some changes.

Bringing the Green Dot Prevention Strategy, a program used by many universities to fight sexual assault and domestic violence, to the University is a part of Hollingsworth’s campaign promises. Additionally, he wants to create a monthly forum in which students could speak directly with the SGA president and a program that would offer forgiveness for penalty points acquired by students during football season.

“This is a campaign by students, for students,” Hollingsworth said.

Maddie Hirschfield, Hollingsworth’s campaign manager, said she has seen so much growth in Hollingsworth since she met him during their freshman year.

“He’s always trying to be better,” Hirschfield said.

After working on Hollingworth’s campaign for SGA Senate together last year, Hollingsworth told Hirschfield that he was thinking about doing something bigger.

“I knew that whatever he wanted to do, I was going to help him with it because he really is the best person to represent the student body,” Hirschfield said.

Hirschfield said Hollingsworth is the kind of person to take the necessary steps to accomplish his goals.

“I think the best part of his campaign is that every single point that he has in his platform is a real thing that can happen,” Hirschfield said.

Josh Miller serves as Hollingsworth’s speechwriter and “linguistics guy,” but as Hollingsworth’s roommate, Miller said he is available “whenever something needs to be done.” Miller met Hollingsworth in high school, and he describes his friend as being humble with a strong sense of morality.

“I think that he does a good job making people that he just met feel like they’re important,” Miller said. “One of his passions is making sure that everyone is heard, and in such a big and diverse place like this, that’s a really important thing to do.”

Through his campaign created “by students, for students,” Hollingsworth said he sees a “bright future ahead” for the relationship between SGA and students.  

“We can bring about change if people vote,” Hollingsworth said. “I’m excited because our platform is different, so go out and vote and make sure your voice is heard.”