Leadership Highlight: University of South Carolina Upstate’s SGA President Christia’n Chase Jarvis

In an effort to highlight the people who are leading colleges and universities across the nation, we at Watch The Yard reached out to University of South Carolina Upstate and did an interview with Christia’n Chase Jarvis the 2022-2023 Student Government Association president.

The position of SGA president is a highly respected role and there is a special pride that one takes in being elected by their peers to lead. Christia’n, who is majoring in Mass Communications, is from Morrow, GA. He is a proud Spring 2021 initiate of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

We interviewed Christia’n Chase Jarvis, and talked to him about his position, goals, future and what it means to hold this type of leadership position in 2022-2023.

Read the full interview below.

What is the biggest thing you’ve learned as an SGA president so far?

The biggest thing I’ve learned as SGA president is how everything is not what it seems. A lot of time as students we want things and we want them as soon as possible. Being in a position to where I see a lot of things happening from the inside I understand why change is so slow and I understand that it needs to be that way in order to have structure and efficiency.

What made you decide to attend University of South Carolina Upstate for undergrad?

I decided to attend USC Upstate first because I wanted to run track in college. When coming to the campus it was beautiful, the people were amazing, and the overall administration seemed incredibly compassionate about the success of their students.

How has University of South Carolina Upstate molded you into the person you are today?

USC Upstate has molded me into the person that I am today, because it taught me how to adapt. I moved to USC Upstate not knowing a soul. However, I quickly found my place by understanding the environment and watching how people moved and following my steps strategically.

What specific initiatives have you headed up this year (or are planning) and how do you think they will improve the school and surrounding community?

I have headed up building an app and a news channel for the school. Communications is the means of all successful organizations. With an app it would be easier for students to understand and stay connected to their entire school through their fingertips. Additionally, looking at and registering for classes will be easier as well since you would be able to look at them without a computer. A news channel will help begin to transform our communications department and put us in a position where we can compete with other schools in order to be even more of a top school in South Carolina, working to be one of the best in the nation in the coming years.

How is your SGA administration/school currently working on attending to the mental health of students?

As of right now, my administration is working with a professor in order to create a survey geared towards mental health in order to figure out how students are truly doing. In order to solve a problem, I believe, the first step is understanding what the problem is and how your audience feels about a problem.

What does leadership mean to you?

Leadership to me means being a pioneer. Leadership is more than just being a figurehead to me. It is about instilling a fire in people that makes them want to do better not just for themselves, but for everybody else. Leadership is about positively impacting people around you and people that aren’t even around you.

We now live in a digital world, what do you think schools need to do to represent themselves online in 2022/2023?

I believe in 2022/2023 schools need to be more open to opinions. Consumer research is an incredibly large business. It is important to understand what your consumers want and why they want it. So for schools to do more surveys about what their students want to see, I believe, will excel their platforms over the next couple years.

Why do you think Watch The Yard is important to Black students and college culture?

Watch The Yard is important to Black students and college culture because it is a POSITIVE platform. Nowadays, you only see the negative things that go on in the world, especially social media. Majority of the pages that you see are pages about gossip and bringing the black community down. To have a positive page that highlights the good that our people are doing is extremely important.

What do you plan on doing after graduation?

I plan on moving to the Midwest to obtain my Masters degree in Communications. In addition to this, I plan on continuing with my clothing line Chavis Clothing Co.

We at Watch The Yard would like to commend Christia’n Chase Jarvis for his work as the SGA president of University of South Carolina Upstate.

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