By Kyle Quarles
IDEA, the newest branch of Graceland’s Student Government, came to fruition when elected officers consistently lacked diversity.
“IDEA was really a brainchild to fix a gap that was identified within our student body government when it came to representation,” remarked one Tamela Hill, “and when I mean representation I’m really speaking on the lack-there-of.” In 2019, Tamela was the president of both BSU and GSG, and she had a dream about the future of diversity at Graceland.
Tamela described House Council elections as, “in some aspects, a popularity contest.” Furthermore, she stated, “Student leadership is really important. You learn a lot of transferable skills that you can take into corporate America, and I want to make sure that (...) students from diverse backgrounds have an opportunity to be able to voice their experiences...”
Over the next several months, she would work closely with another student named Leslie Robinson, Dean of Students Dave Schaal, and former President Patricia Draves to create and secure a brand-new student government organization. “Words can’t express how I feel right now,” Tamela posted on her Twitter, “[I’m] proud to introduce Graceland’s VERY FIRST student government organization that functions to aid in equity and justice.” On April 22nd, 2019, IDEA became a reality.
IDEA stands for Inclusion Diversity Equity Alliance. Why those three concepts specificly? The Dean of Students, Dave Schaal, puts it best: “It’s very hard for diversity to have impact without inclusion. It’s hard to have meaningful inclusion without equity. And it’s hard to have any of them unless we’re all allied together.”
Five and a half years later, IDEA still holds a place in Graceland’s Student Government. Now alongside the likes of your Chaplain Reps and COSA reps, every hall is encouraged to elect an IDEA Representative. However, according to IDEA’s current president, “...we are not [like] COSA. We are not just doing events or activities, but we are making sure, this year, to meet our purpose and mission.”
Coming from Chile to attend Graceland, Javi Madariaga is a Biology and Chemistry
Double-Major, who previously served as the president of the Intercultural Club. Originally, she hadn’t intended to run for IDEA president. It was only when approached by the Dean of Students, Dave Schaal, that she started to consider it. “When I decided to run, I never thought about running for any other position like ASC or COSA...” said Madariaga, “...I’m an international student and I know the problems that we are going through...I knew that we had problems and...I knew we needed someone that went through that.”
Five organizations make up IDEA: International Club, Latinx Club, Black Student Union, Sexuality and Gender Alliance, and Polynesian Club. The Intersectional Feminist Alliance is currently up for consideration as the sixth organization of IDEA. Rather than putting on its own events, IDEA focuses on empowering these organizations to put on their own events through financial contributions. For instance, during Black History Month, BSU is given a budget to host events.
Alongside sponsoring events, Javi explains the many small ways that IDEA helps Graceland students. “One of our things that we have been doing is checking the handicap buttons in the buildings for people with disabilities (...) Things like that. It’s small things, but we have many little problems around campus and we’re trying to find solutions.”
This, I believe, represents the core principle of IDEA. You belong here; on campus, in the Student Government, etc. Most importantly, you have a place in the Graceland community regardless of who you are, what you believe in, where you’re from, or where you dream of ending up. For as long as Graceland is a diverse community, IDEA will be around to uphold it.
Photos courtesy of Graceland Marketing.
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