C e n t e r F o r C iv ic & G l ob a l E n g a ge m e n t
V o l um e 4 , I s s ue 1 O ct o b er 30, 201 5
T HE A RTICHOKE T IMES A publication of Scottsdale Community College’s Council of Student Leaders
w w w . s co t t sd a l ec c. ed u / s t u d en t l if e / c iv i c - gl ob a l - en ga ge m e n t
An EEO/AA Institution
A NEW NAME FOR US! By Jen Sydow, Advisor, Council of Student Leaders
CSL? What does that stand for? What happened to SLF? Wait, what did that stand for again? This past spring, the twelve members of SCC’s Student Leadership Forum (SLF) started a discussion over whether or not the student body at Scottsdale Community College understood the role of their form of a student government on campus, based on the name. In other words, they were tired of having to explain what SLF was. After further research and multiple conversations with fellow students and other student leaders across the Maricopa district, the 2015 Spring SLFers decided to follow the guidelines outlined in their Constitution in order to make an amendment to change the name. During the last week of April 2015, the SLF members proposed a resolution to change the name from Student Leadership Forum to Council of Student Leaders (CSL), which was then approved by a two-thirds majority of votes by the SCC student body that participated in the vote. CSL currently exists to preserve student rights, serve student needs, provide student funding for student activities and clubs, and serve as the official voice of the student body. As with any change, it takes time for people to accept and adopt it. We started the 2015-16 Academic Year off with the new name and have not looked back! With that change, I have seen a dramatic increase in not only involvement, but synergy among this year’s CSLers. As an advisor, that is a blessing to have! They have motivated themselves to create great events such as Constitution Day, Homecoming Kick-off and a luncheon with SCC’s college administrators. (And, it’s only the end of October!) Their ability to work together, come up with new ideas and succeed in pulling them off has set the bar high for future CSLers. In addition to the event planning, it was been rewarding to watch each of them develop new leadership skills and be open to adapting what they already knew or learned. Who are these Council of Student Leaders? This diverse group of 18 individuals range from ages 17 to 27 and backgrounds ranging from Native American to Hispanic to Asian. We have a mother of two young boys, two who work full-time, a recent SCC athlete, past and current students of the Student Public Policy Forum, a recipient of the Chancellor’s Medallion and international students studying here from India, Pakistan, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya and Mexico. Oh, not to mention many of them are also members of other SCC clubs! And the best part of who they are? I get to serve as their advisor and watch them grow!
EXERCISE YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS! By Diego Leal, Chair, Council of Student Leaders
On September 17, 2015 the Council of Student Leaders and Scottsdale Community College campus took part in celebrating one of the oldest American traditions of Constitution Day. On that date 228 years prior, the Constitution of the United States of America was signed and became the backbone for the American policy making procedure from that point on. As part of commemorating the historic day, the Council of Student Leaders took the opportunity to celebrate the democratic political process created by the Constitution by hosting a voter registration drive. For much of the day, CSL volunteers canvassed the Student Center at SCC registering our students to vote, making them eligible to participate in local, state, and federal level elections. All 31 SCC students registered that day met the deadline of October 5, 2015, in order to participate in the General Election on November 3. Not only do these newly registered voters have the opportunity to participate on November 3, but they can also vote in the very important Arizona Presidential Primary coming up in March of 2016. The 31 students registered on that day make up just about half of the 64 SCC students the Council of Student Leaders have registered to vote this election season. Although, if you’re someone who missed our event and would still like to register yourself to vote, the Center for Civic and Global Engagement has voter registration forms available at all times.
Thanks to these CSLers and their fellow members, they were able to register 64 SCC students to vote!