Under the leadership of Vice President and Freshman Class President Shia Rozier and Kendel Bullock, the freshman class council worked with the transportation department to arrange shuttles for students to and from Walmart, where they could purchase groceries and other household supplies.
Stops included Sebastian Apartments, Academic Classroom Building (ACB), and Barnes Hall, and with three rides between March 23 and April 20, shuttles successfully transported over 500 students.
“I feel like one thing about SGA is a lot of the work that we do isn’t visible to the student body until it’s done,” Rozier said. “So, I’m happy this initiative started, and the program is going well. If it continues to go well, then I’m happy for it to continue to the freshman classes coming behind me, and I think that’s what legacy is about doing something that isn’t just for yourself but for those who follow after you.”
Inspired by the astounding number of Ubers transporting students with groceries back and forth, Rozier and Bullock introduced the idea of the Walmart Run initiatives to Kim Jackson, the Head of Transportation, at the Oct. 2nd Blue and Gold Table Talk, and event for students can meet and voice concerns to various administrators.
From there, the Transportation Office and Freshman Class Council worked on the logistics and promotion of the initiative for its official launch on March 23, which transported 135 students.
“College is expensive enough as it is, and taking one expense and inconvenience off everybody’s plates was important for me,” Rozier said. “If you’re on that bus, you’re an Aggie student, and you have that sense of community with everybody.”
First-year chemical engineering student Nyla Baxter participated in the April Walmart run. Because of her busy schedule, she expressed how convenient the initiative was for stocking up on essentials without disrupting her normal routine.
“The Freshman class council did an amazing job planning this initiative,” Baxter said. “They identified a need that was not being met and took action to plan an initiative that will benefit our current and future Aggies for years to come.”
Rozier and Bullock credited Jackson with most of the initiative’s success. She took on most of the legwork by ensuring Campus Enterprises were on board, there were enough drivers, switch-off times were incorporated into the drivers, and all students felt safe and comfortable on the shuttles.
“Thank you 1,001 times, to Ms. Jackson especially,” Rozier said. She did most of the legwork on this project, and even though sometimes administrative things are slow, she put this on the forefront of her agenda as the Head of Transportation. So, I am immensely appreciative of her for making sure this happened quickly.”
Rozier thanked SGA and her fellow executive board members for allowing her to grow and learn people organically and carry out this initiative.
“This [initiative] was definitely a team effort and I’m super appreciative to everybody that played a part,” Rozier said. “I’m so grateful to everybody that trusted me and allowed me to represent them as the Freshman Class President. I really do hope that through the initiatives we’ve done, you guys were able to meet somebody, learn about a new resource or has benefited from any of the new resources that we provided.”
As Rozier prepares to pass the presidency to former Freshman Class Secretary Loren Long, she hoped the initiative would continue in the upcoming academic year so future and current students could continue to obtain groceries and other necessities without breaking the bank.
