HPU’s new Student Government Association President: Joshua Gilstrap
By Anne Davey, Opinion Editor //
High Point University Junior Joshua Gilstrap is no stranger to leadership on campus. His new role as Student Government Association president comes after three years of service to the university. Gilstrap hails from Colorado Springs and has a double major in computer science and philosophy. He currently serves as SGA’s chief of staff, and was an integral part of the newly reformed online bill submission system. He credits his experience in student government, as well as being a student justice and hearing officer on the Student Judicial Board, as influencing his decision to run for president.
As soon to be president, Gilstrap reflected on his favorite senate experiences so far, citing Dr. Nido Qubein’s visit to the Senate this semester as one of the shining examples of the great student-staff dynamic SGA fosters. “It was exciting that HPU President Nido Qubein came to the Senate this year to address SGA personally. We recognized him for his 10 years of service to our university, and the time he took to attend our meeting was testament to how much he cares about the students here.”
All of the Executive Council members ran unopposed, with some positions going vacant. While some argue that student involvement and interest in SGA is low, Gilstrap feels strongly that HPU has a solid and exciting future where SGA is concerned. “I would certainly like to see greater interest in the student government across campus, and that is one of my goals for this coming year. But we actually have had exciting levels of enthusiasm and involvement the past few years. I think we’re seeing greater student involvement and greater capacity for positive impact. Just this year we’ve had a surge in student engagement, with 10 new chartered organizations, more charitable donations than any prior year, and nearly two-dozen freshmen running in the freshmen elections. These are trends that I want to ensure will continue into the future.”
SGA’s Executive Council is made up of 11 individuals; this year five members of the executive board will be graduating. Six of the eleven members on the Executive Council will retain their positions and continue to the SGA. The other appointees are Dalton Sheppard as chief of staff, who brings valuable insight as well as broad experience from his service as the SGA representative for the Inter-Fraternity Council; Reza Moghtaderi as academic chair, who brings a unique and academically strong perspective in addition to his well-respected voice as a class of 2016 representative; Lydia Prior as executive vice president, who has served on Executive Council this past year as secretary; and Alexandra Archuleta, who will serve as secretary.
On the importance of this position, Gilstrap says “I recognize that there are many important responsibilities that the president has to the student body and to the university. But I also see that there are many opportunities to enable students to share their voices, and to work with both students and university administrators to improve our university community for everyone.” Gilstrap plans to continue to the personal presidential roundtable meetings that have been put in place this year to better foster communication. In regards to their importance, he says, “I think those are a great way to improve communication and address business quickly and effectively.”
Additionally, SGA will continue to host community affairs board meetings twice a semester to enable student’s direct access to university leaders. In the spirit of communication and continuing SGA’s tradition of excellence, Gilstrap will welcome emails to both his personal HPU address, as well make sure that everyone has access as the Executive Council should they have questions, suggestions or concerns.
HPU SGA contact info: gilstj12@highpoint.edu or SGA@highpoint.edu