Senior middle school education major Richard Davis Jr. entered his fall semester with the responsibilities of being the Student Government Association president.

After his involvement in student council during high school, Davis initially did not plan to be as involved in college. However, shortly after attending his first SGA meeting, he wound up serving as chair of the committee in leadership council. From there, he was appointed as a senator, then director of leadership council, then vice president before being elected as SGA president.

“It’s been a long journey,” said Davis. “I really didn’t want to do it, but I eventually fell in love with SGA and just being that voice for students and serving students and representing them, just being an advocate for students who may not be comfortable with expressing how they feel.”

A typical day for Davis as president may involve getting to the office in the morning to respond to any necessary emails, checking in with other SGA officers, picking up coffee or water, preparing for and attending any meetings, and figuring out his next step when not attending classes.

In order to lead SGA and represent the student body, Davis speaks for the students when attending university meetings or committees. He also aims to implement policies to benefit students such as organizing a bike share program, increasing interactions between students and administration, and re-instituting organization grants.

Davis believes that the position as chief representative of the student body teaches him the distinction between leadership and management. As president, he hopes to lead by example.

“I never want to ask my vice president, my chief justice or any of my cabinet members to do something I wouldn’t do,” said Davis. “I’ve been in SGA for the past three years. I know what it takes, and I know the struggles that come on with certain positions. I don’t wanna overload people.”

Besides being SGA president, Davis is the parliamentarian and chaplain for the university chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He serves on the student conduct hearing board and the auxiliary services student advisory board. In his free time, Davis likes to be with friends and family, watch Netflix and travel.

“I really don’t have a lot of opportunities to travel, and I also spend time with my family,” said Davis. “I have three older sisters and my dad, and we try to travel as much as we can. We took a trip to Houston this past summer, just a weekend trip just to get away from all of our lives.”

In addition to his duties as SGA president, Davis was elected as the student member of the University of Louisiana System’s Board of Supervisors. The ULS Board of Supervisors will craft policy for the nine universities within its system.

Davis said, “I was very humbled, and it was very touching to be in that position, kind of be in that right place at the right time where students feel that they put their trust in me to be representative of over 90,000 students in our system. That means a lot to me.”