After a year of leading Student Government through campus initiatives and student advocacy, 2024-25 SG President Grace Kelly and Vice President Elle Grinnell reflect on their time in office, including creating UT System-wide mental health modules and establishing town halls for students to voice their campus concerns.
The pair led other community initiatives including the distribution of an online newsletter that emphasizes campus opportunities and resources, launching an Amazon storefront which allows community members to donate essential items to the UT Outpost and organizing voting and donation competitions with the University of Oklahoma to increase civic engagement. However, Kelly said the pair also navigated new state policy changes that required more oversight from the University.
“I’m definitely proud of our progress this past year, and I’m proud of how we’ve shaped Student Government,” said Kelly, a Plan II and human development and family science senior. “I’m just proud of all of the work and the team efforts. We’ve gotten to really see some students find their niche, and find their passions, and that’s also really exciting for me to see people fulfilling an opportunity that makes them excited.”
Kelly said she served on over 10 committees in Student Government, where she represented the entire student body in meetings with UT officials. She said although she felt a lot of pressure, she was never shy to bring up student issues and voice concerns.
“(It) holds a lot of weight being the one person speaking up in these admin meetings and representing students,” Kelly said. “I’m really proud of the relationships that we were able to grow because they saw how seriously we took this, and they saw student government contributing to these conversations.”
Journalism senior Grinnell said she enjoyed making strong and lasting connections with administrators and staff, including former UT President Jay Hartzell. She said she has plans with Kelly and Hartzell to stay in touch, like meeting for lunch, despite his recent move to Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
“(Hartzell) was always open to hear any of our ideas and connect us with any other people we may not have connections with,” Grinnell said. “He was just a very helpful and willing person.”
Kelly said although they had a strong year, growing administrative oversight challenged SG’s ability to act independently. She said the student organization operates under tight constraints due to its position as a university-sponsored entity. She said student governments at other Southeastern Conference schools act independently.
“We’re an extension of the students, but we’re also an extension to school,” Kelly said. “We’re like a juggling act in a way of balancing both perspectives, because we’re speaking for one, but it’s speaking against the other. So how are we able to communicate that? And in the end, we’re not allowed to.”
Kelly said legislation like Texas Senate Bill 17, which banned diversity, equity and inclusion practices and offices in public universities, intensified SG’s tension with University administrators, who are becoming increasingly cautious about compliance, leading to more restricted student expression and communication. She said earlier this year, the Office of the Dean of Students removed SG’s Black History Month Instagram post before it was reinstated and also canceled events featuring politicians at the last minute.
Still, Kelly said she was proud of what SG accomplished within what she described as a “highly bureaucratic system.”
“While sometimes our voices are more limited than others, I’m still proud of our efforts of taking a stand against that and saying that students remain at the forefront of this university,” Kelly said. “This university is for the students and it has been our goal to make that the forefront of everyone’s mind.”
