Completion of the Student Government Association presidential wall monument concluded yesterday afternoon in the Smith Brown Memorial Union SGA office.
The wall was intended to be a tribute with photos and names for past SGA presidents starting with the first, Elmer Glover during the 1945 – 1947 to the present, according to current SGA president Carey Ash.
Past SGA presidents like first female elected SGA president Roena Wilford 1971 – 1972, former U.S. congressmen Cleo Fields to current platinum selling rap artist Levell Crump also known as David Banner inhabit the wall.
According to Ash, the reason for the wall was because Southern was the only university without one and he wanted to show his appreciation with past SGA presidents.
“Every year Southern brings back the Miss Southern’s and it seems like no one does anything for our past SGA leaders,” said Ash. “It gives us a since of history and pride.”
Ash started the project in August of last year where John B. Cade Library archivist Angela Proctor and reference librarian Eddie Huse along with campus historian Frank Fransberg helped him gather all necessary information including photos for the monument.
SGA president for the 2006-2007 term Niiobli Armah said that the importance of the wall is not in the photo of the past president, but with his/her administration and what they did for the university.
“I would call it more of a scrapbook or mural of the past,” said Armah. “Actually it’s motivation for me to become a better leader.”
Completion of the monument was intended to conclude at noon after the Southern’s Founders’ Day convocation, but miscommunication between the carpenters and SGA caused a delay and eventual cancellation of the event.
Reasons according to Southern carpenters who were assigned to put holes in the wall and mount the photos Kenneth Rivitie and Johnny Allen, the delay was caused by SGA providing the wrong sized anchors to hold the pictures and vice-president Channing Blake asking them to leave due to noise that prevented him from taking a phone call in his office.
While Blake was not available for comment, Activities Coordinator Elyse McFadden said that those reasons were excuses.
“They (the carpenters) should have known the kind of screws they needed in the first place and I think that he (Blake) could have taken the phone call somewhere else,” said McFadden.
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SGA presidential monument finished
March 13, 2008
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