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Friday, October 19, 2018 - Vol. 119 Issue 25
AWARD-WINNING STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF WESTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY. SERVING MACOMB SINCE 1905.
episode 1: Getting to know Student Trustee Justin Brown Jimmy Pierson/production manager
By Marc Ramirez news editor
Western Illinois University Student member to the Board of Trustee, Justin Brown, was elected to serve from July 1, 2018 until June 30, 2019. Brown is a junior majoring in political science with an emphasis on public administration and public policy. Brown is an extremely busy student whether that's because of school, meetings or philanthropy events, but he somehow always finds a way to make sure his duties are completed. Brown began by explaining his decision to attend Western rather than a different institution. “I chose Western because I am a second generation
Leatherneck,” Brown said. “My dad went here, my mother started here and I knew from the beginning it was the school I wanted to go to.” Brown initially started at Western majoring in law enforcement, so he felt the decision to attend his parents’ alma mater was an easy one. After switching majors, Brown’s choice to stay was heavily influenced by his campus involvement and the relationships he fostered with people across campus. Freshman year, Brown joined the University Union Board as a way to interact with other students and find where he belonged at Western. For the past two years, he has served as the Vice President of Finance, helping make
operations run as smoothly as possible. University Union Board is the main programming body on the Macomb campus.
WIU.EDU
Brown then got involved in the Student Government Association his sophomore year. He served on the executive cabinet as Chief-of-Staff.
“I knew from my time being involved in SGA as Chiefof-Staff that I really had a passion for student government and I’ve always been involved in my local government back home,” Brown said. “Because I am the Student Member to the Board of Trustees, I am still a part of leadership in the Student Government Association. I attend the weekly Tuesday evening meetings and I hold regular office hours for students to express any concern if they have any.” In July when he was elected, Brown became a fullfledged trustee, giving him voting rights on every University matter minus tenured faculty. Being a trustee comes with plenty of duties and responsibilities.
“I always knew it was one of my end goals to get elected to a leadership position within the University, whether that be as the Student to the Board of Trustees, student body president or something of that nature,” Brown said. “I can vote to hire and fire the president, approve budget proposals, sit in on various meetings, go to quarterly board meetings, and attend a yearly training with the Illinois Board of Higher Education.” If you thought that was a lot, Brown also is one of two student representatives on the Council on Admission, Graduation and Academic Standards.
ty members. The Big Pink Volleyball tournament took place at the Rec. Center from Monday to Wednesday. Big Pink Volleyball is Thompson Hall’s annual Capstone Event. Big Pink has been running for over 20 years. Capstone events are philanthropy events that give back to the community in some way. Capstone events are put on by each complex on campus: Bayliss and Henninger, Tanner, Thompson, Corbin and Olsen, Lincoln-Washington and Caroline Grote Halls. According to Andrew Haugen, Complex
Director of Thompson Hall, capstone events are traditions that have been going on at Western for years and are put on by the largest campus community. Haugen stated that Big Pink had around 50 teams sign up this year, which totaled around 375 people that participated in the event. Each team had to donate a $30 team registration fee with teams being anywhere from four to eight people.
Courier Confrence
Big Pink Volleyball raises around $2,000 for philanthropy By Leah Murphy courier staff
felicia selmon/courier staff
Students participate in Thompson Hall's Big Pink Volleyball philanthropy event.
Monday was the beginning of the annual Big Pink Volleyball tournament. This year’s tournament was a three-day event and featured both a fun and competitive bracket. The tournaments are played with a large, four- foot bright pink volleyball. The tournament was a single elimination; teams continue to move forward until they lose. The event was open to Western Illinois University students, faculty and communi-
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