REPORT: Read the transcript of our interview with Olivia Green about her bid for the Student Body Presidency
Below is the full transcript. Additions in "[ ]" have been added to improve grammatical flow. No other aspect of this transcript has been altered.
This interview was conducted on February 8th, 2023 near midday on the third-floor of the J. Wayne Reitz Student Union.
Understand UFSG 0:03
I am with Olivia Green, current Senate President and Gator Party candidate for Student Body President. She previously served as Senate President Pro-Tempore. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents, Valerie and Vincent Green, themselves are Gator alumni. They established a scholarship via a donor-advised fund to address the issues of diversity. Her older brother, Ian Green, previously served as Student Body President. If elected, she would be the second Black female Student Body President after Pamela Bingham, [who] was elected in 1986. My first question is: you served in Class Councils previously as Freshman Class President. I even have a photo from the post. How would you say that that shaped your first year at UF and your understanding of Student Government?
Olivia Green 0:53
So obviously, my brother was Student Body President, he served in Senate as well, he'd never did anything in the executive branch. So going into my freshman year of college, obviously, I'm from out of state. So I wanted to be able to get involved. And I saw that at the executive branch was doing a lot of stuff regarding event p-planning and programming, which I thought was really important and imperative because I came in during a pandemic. So I applied for freshman Class Council and I got president, which I was really grateful for, because it was a really good learning experience. Because I think one thing is crucial to being Student Body President is you have to be not only, like, very experienced, in depth, in several different factors of Student Government, but I think that you also need to understand other people's roles. And I think that experience within the executive branch is really crucial for me to help me as Student Body President.
But, what I did as Freshman Class President that I was really proud of is my freshman year that we had recharge days because we weren't able to obviously have a Spring Break due to the pandemic and I planned a sunset workout at Ben Hill Griffin and I partnered with RecSports where we have a RecSports trainer come and do a workout. And there were so many freshmen that showed up and I did these T-shirts. I can probably pull up the T-shirts but it said, like, "Gator Grind" and on the back was a sunset, like, it was, like, a sunset mural of Ben Hill Griffin [Stadium]. I'll send it to you after, but it was, like, it was, like — I still see people wearing those shirts and it meant so much to me because, like, that, you don't, — you do see that within Senate — but you don't see physical, tangible things that people are walking around with as you do with the executive branch which is why I think the executive branch is so beautiful because, like, you truly see eye-to-eye what students are, like, appreciative of and I was grateful for that experience.
Understand UFSG 2:39
Thank you. My second question is: you have served in many roles in Senate. You were in the Budget & Appropriations Committee. You were Senate President Pro-Tempore. And, you have been a long-term Senator for District A, having been elected three times, being the top vote-earner in two of those elections. Your brother served in similar roles having served in the Budget Committee as chairperson and as Senate President. What would you say across your time in Senate is your highest achievement or moment?
Olivia Green 3:07
Um, I would definitely say obviously, Senate President has definitely been very rewarding because it truly is a pillar of the involvement within Senate. I mean, you reached about as high as you can go. But I'm most proud of Senate President Pro-Tempore because I did that for eight months. And during those eight months, those Replacement & Agenda [Committee] meetings averaged about four hours and I was a sophomore. And, before, I was, I was never in the Replacement & Agenda Committee. Prior to that I wasn't Member-at-large. I was really, really passionate about Budget. I served as a Budget & Appropriations vice-chair under Chairman Hartzog and I was really, really passionate about Budget. And then, when I ran for Pro-Tempore, I was excited for something new and a challenge. But, that doesn't take the from the fact that it's hard. And, like, I was so proud of the work I did within that, because I, I handled a lot of situations, especially over the summer with what I like to think of as grace and respect. And, like, that was something that I really wanted to bring in as Senate President because, like, I think that Senate has like a lot of beautiful things. It brings a lot of passion out of students. But it also is, like, the whole point of Senate is to also remain, to keep decorum. And I think it's a very beautiful aspect of Senate because it reminds people of professionalism. And that was something that, like, I learned how to do very well, with Pro-Tempore because, in those Replacement & Agenda Committee meetings, you're giving interviews to prospective students, and you want to show them the best Senate can offer. So, you have to be remain professional and respectful. And doing that for eight months was not an easy task, but I did it to the best of my ability and I'm proud of the work that I did. As well as, [as] Pro-Tempore you're sending out all those emails, you're keeping up with the agenda, you're keeping up with all the tracks of who's in Senate with the Senate Secretaries. As well as [that], I was summer's Pro-Temp, Pro-Tempore, so I had to do all the summer replacements, had to keep track of all the forms of all the people that left, and there was a lot of people that left, then replace the seats through our R&A. And then, when everybody returned, replace it all back. So, like, it was a lot of, like, tracking that, like, you don't really see in Senate President, but, like, I think that really helped me learn a lot about Senate. So when I came into Senate President, I felt prepared.
Understand UFSG 5:17
Okay, thank you. Next things are in regards to platform items and statements you made in your announcing post on your personal social media. So, the first one is you stated a commitment to quote, place and importance on DEI initiatives. As you know, as of this Monday, Dr. Ben Sasse, is our new University President. While many students have vocalized concerns over him, some have said that they appreciate that he's the new president. You yourself spoke about concerns with Student Body President Lauren Lemasters vote in the affirmative for Sasse, during a Senate session. How would you say you plan to balance the voices of students who are in support of him, who have been not as vocal, and those who have been opposed to him, who have organized protests and such? How would you say you're gonna balance like those two perspectives?
Olivia Green 6:05
I think it's a really good question, because although I did condemn Lauren, I still stand by my statement. Well, I condemn Lauren's unwillingness to listen to students. But, I do not think her action itself is impeachable, which is why when it came through Senate, it was not impeached. And I, obviously I cannot vote on that. But that was — going back to that — I think, it remains a level of respect and understanding. My main goal is to listen and respect students, but also in the end of the day, Sasse is our president now. And what we should focus on is making sure that he understands that we are continuing to work for these students that are compromised due to his Presidency. But. we've done that and we're gonna continue to do that. And our LGBTQ+ Affairs Director, Jacob Fazio, is working with Sasse on [a] LGBTQ+ task force to make initiatives for these students. As well as [that], my running mate, Nyla Pierre, who's currently up for treasurer, is within STAAR and she not only spoke at Senate, but is continuing to advocate for Students Take Action Against Racism. So, what I think our best option is to do, and I know this is different than the opposing party, but he is our President, that is something that we can't change, that's something that we're going to have to deal with. But, we need to come with him with tangible ideas, and tangible things that we need, regarding the students that are concerned so that we're able to actually work with him rather than coming with aggression, because I seen not only in Senate, but as a student, that aggression doesn't really get us anywhere. What we need to do is come with tangible, professional things that we want to be done. And that's what I've we've already been working on. So I'm really proud of the stuff that we've been doing.
Understand UFSG 7:47
Thank you. Continuing on the thread of the DEI on campus, there have been a lot of concerns amongst students due to certain comments by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. During your brother's tenure, he started the agency “BRIDGES multicultural agency,” which continues to this day. Would you like to expand on any plans for new agencies or specific programming done by the Office of the President in regards to DEI?
Olivia Green 8:14
So I think that when -- I guess, I'll call him my brother, I'm not going to call him Student Body President Green -- he started BRIDGES, I think that was a great thing that he did, what I think needs to be done is instead of just creating new agencies, is to focus on building up the agencies that are currently within the Office of the President. So, for BRIDGES, I do think that... it's not necessarily that BRIDGES needs more programming or more funding, they need more tangible and, like, new exciting ideas to get these students from these underprivileged communities to come out and want to come to UF. Because, the whole premise that Ian had was that to go to these communities to get these students to enroll into UF, and I think it's a great idea. But I do think that, like, they need more ideas that are, like, catering to the students, because I think right now they're having like very generic ideas, that it's, like, a little bit tougher to, like, really engage with these students. I think my main thing is not really crea-, just creating new agencies out of Waterloo, I think, using the ones that we have and enhancing them. One example I had was: I think that Class Councils and BRIDGES could do a co-event of, like, you could be the next class of, "class of 2027," and go into these communities and maybe make bringing out shirts. And, like, seeing that we're —even though when they're not even into UF yet — we're already welcoming them, we already want them to come. That's one way. One that I think that BRIDGES has not done before in the past. And, it's something new and exciting that I think would really work well. And I also think that it would get the students that are currently at UF more involved in BRIDGES, because what I saw not only in Ian's presidency, but now, is that a lot of people don't even know what BRIDGES is. And that's, like, why the scholarship that you mentioned that my parents have done... getting these scholarships to these students that really need it is so crucial, and that's why I think that BRIDGES is also crucial, because the problem is not that the students don't want to come here, the students don't feel welcome to come here as like. As a Black student, myself, especially being Black and out-of-state, like, it is really hard to find the resources to feel — find your community here — feel comfortable here, when you're not being told. So that's where BRIDGES needs to, like, be. I think maybe we're just gonna collaborate with BSU, which they've done in the past. So, I wasn't gonna mention that, but continue to collaborate with BSU, but also continue to collaborate with the huge agencies like Class Councils, so that they're getting more exposure.
Understand UFSG 10:34
All right, thank you. Our fifth question is in regards to the statement, [quote], finding a new alternative for the student organization funding process. To that end, in Senate you created the ad hoc committee, which had a forum. With the powers of the Office of Student Body President, how will you advance this goal?
Olivia Green 10:49
So what I'm currently working on right now with the ad hoc committee is getting a report from the forum that we had, as well as research. We're currently working with [a] chair, Chairwoman Pecora, to get a list of all the honorariums from the past couple years, because that's where... obviously, I'm not going to reveal this list. Yet. This is a plug to come to the debate on February 21st, but that's where we're focusing on: to create a new budget process. I'm currently working with people in the administration, as well as the ad hoc committee to create a formal, I guess, process, that new process that we're going to work [towards] for student organization funding. I know the opposing party is not too fond of the ad hoc committee, but it really has been a great help to me, to finding really what we need to focus on. Because, frankly, I served on the Budget Committee for two years, there was obviously... it's obviously not a perfect system, but it's really hard to find out what students directly want, but specifically what Student Organizations want. And, I was really grateful for that forum, because we were able to hear firsthand what these organizations really wanted. And a lot of them differed. So it's, like, trying to find a middle ground.
Understand UFSG 11:56
Okay. Finally, this is… this is a question that was submitted to us through our form. This is in regards to the perennial issue of a 24/7 library. So it has been made clear that Marston will only be 24/7 after 2023 if Student Government helps find a final deal. This was based on communications we've had with the Dean, Dr. Judith Russell. Your brother, Ian Green, authored a one-time reserve transfer in 2018 of $160,000. This is Student Senate Law 2018-123. That gave money for that fiscal year for 24/7 operations of Library West. Afterwards, the provost temporarily funded it for a pilot study that ended in 2020. If the Provost is unwilling to further fund it after 2023, would you be willing to consider the involvement of Student Government through a reserve transfer, or some other budgetary allocation?
Olivia Green 12:58
Um, right now I'm open, I'm not going to have a definitive statement. As well as [that], the Provost, currently Joe Glover, is leaving. So I think working with... my main goal is to work with the upcoming Provost, as was the new UF president to see if we can work some kind of deal similar to what my brother did, because the last thing I want to do is use student government fees, because that's student fees. It is Activity and Service fees that students are paying for. And so, my main goal is to try to get the University to pay for it, because they should be, in my opinion, and this is what we've said in Gator party for the past three years. Under the Student Body President Brow, it was, like, we don't want to use student fees. So, we haven't thus far I'm going to continue to try to do that. Or, we just have to see what to do after the new Provost comes in after the elections.
Understand UFSG 13:48
Thank you. Those are all six of the questions I had pre-prepared for you. Do you have any other things you would like to say, on the record, for students, about your bid for the presidency?
Olivia Green 13:58
I'll just say that... I'm really excited so far, I think elections have been going great. I've been so grateful for all the love and support and honestly even the question. So, I think that my biggest thing, this is one of the things I was on my legislative agenda as Senate President, as Pro-Tempore is wanting students to feel comfortable coming up to me and asking questions, as well as coming into my office, coming to my office hours. And I've really seen an increase in that through Senate President, and I'm hoping if I was elected Student Body President that would continue. I'm out there tabling every day I want... I want students to come up to me and have these questions because I have the experience the knowledge to answer them. I do not feel uncomfortable answering any question because at this point, I've done almost every sector you can do, except for the judicial branch, in Student Government. I did [the] executive branch, I did Internal Affairs when it was there. I did Freshman Class President, I did Budget & Appropriations, in Senate, I did Pro-Tempore and Senate President. I've done work outside of student government for my community, as well as for my sorority, like, I, I've seen a lot of sectors at UF and I see a lot of the great things that UF has done, but I also do see where people have concerns, and I want to work on those concerns. I will say this... this is what I said in my announcement, I'll say this again: like, my, I think it's my biggest crutch, but it's also my biggest advantage is that I hyper-fixate, truly, on people's concerns. I want to fix people's concerns. It bothers me when people are upset about something. So, like, that is why I'm doing Student Government. That's why I started doing Student Government. It is not... I'm not a politician in any way. I'm not the most formal person. I like to have fun. I like to joke around. But, like, I also really do like to help people in, like, sectors that I can. And that's why I'm continuing, running for Student Body President. Thank you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai