The Oracle
T H U R S DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 8 I VO L . 5 6 N O . 8 w w w . u s f o r a c l e . c o m
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H F L O R I DA
A guiding force 1,800 miles away
Student Body Vice President Shaquille Kent will represent USF students on a committee tasked with finding USF’s next president. He credits all of his success to his mother in Trinidad. By Josh Fiallo M A N A G I N G
Shaquille Kent is one of 15 members on a committee to help find USF’s next president, USF Board of Trustees Chair Brian Lamb announced Friday. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/SHAQUILLE KENT
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Growing up, it was Gale Lewis’ dream to leave Trinidad and Tobago to pursue a college education in America. However, being one of nine siblings, money was too tight for her to come. That’s why, whenever Shaquille Kent, her youngest son and USF’s student body vice president, said he wanted to study in America, she was determined to make it happen — even with money being a concern. “What I didn’t do, he needed to — not just for him, but for me,” Lewis said from her home in Trinidad. “I told him, whatever we need to do, we’ll do it.” Now a junior at USF, Kent is living his and Lewis’ mutual dream, studying business and serving in a plethora of roles around campus — being a USF Ambassador, a figurehead in Student Government and a member of the Alumni Association’s board of directors. Most recently, Kent was selected to represent USF’s student population on a 15-person search committee that’s tasked with finding USF’s next system president to replace Judy Genshaft when she retires next July. While his success on campus is nearly as prominent as his smile, Kent’s day-to-day life has not been as easy as it may seem on the surface. Days go by where he eats only one meal. Other days, he’ll eat none.
“You had to choose some days,” he said. “Insurance, rent or multiple meals.” In order to transport to and from campus, Kent purchased a 2006 Dodge Caravan with a fellow Trinidadian, splitting the cost at $500 each. He described the van as what Americans would call a “soccermom van.” Kent insisted the type of vehicle didn’t matter. He had something to get him from one place to the next. That is, until the car’s transmission blew up and the duo couldn’t afford to fix it. He now relies on friends and the Bull Runner to get from point A to B. “There’s this misconception when you’re in leadership roles that everybody thinks everything’s going perfect, that everything’s alright,” Kent said. “They assume I don’t struggle. Honestly, I do.” Back home in Morvant, Trinidad and Tobago, Lewis aches at the thought of her son struggling, especially when it comes to eating. Kent’s the youngest of four siblings and has always had an extra-special bond with his mother, though, he said he’s sometimes hesitant to admit it. While Kent opts at times to use Feed-A-Bull, a campus food pantry initiative, Lewis constantly urges him to eat properly — usually doing so in their daily texts and phone calls through WhatsApp. “I tell him, ‘look, use the credit card, eat properly, the money will come and we’ll pay it back,’” Lewis said.
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Maitenance issues frustrate students who live in Village By Leda Alvim C O R R E S P O N D E N T
In between classes and busy schedules, some students face maintenance issues in The Village — the newest residence community on campus — creating frustration for some of the students who live there. The Village started its construction in 2016, finishing the first phase in fall of 2017 — with the opening of two new residential buildings, Beacon and Summit — and finishing the final phase at the beginning of this semester with the addition of Horizon, Endeavor and Pinnacle. However, some students are questioning whether the price paid to live in The Village is worth it after maintenance problems persist five weeks into the semester. Alex Gonzalez lives on the first floor of Endeavor Hall with her roommate and fellow freshman Hanalyse Loboda. For the past month, they have been having issues in their dorm, resulting in more than 25 maintenance requests. According to Gonzalez, everything started when she first moved in on Aug. 16 to participate in band camp. After only one hour in her room, all the lights and plugs stopped working. Maintenance came in the same day to fix the problem. However, that same week Gonzalez had to call maintenance three additional times to fix the same problem that kept happening. “I would get back from band camp exhausted after a long day of practice and neither my lights nor outlets would be working,” Gonzalez said. “One of my outlets that had my refrigerator was not working and I was afraid to lose all the food in it.” According to Gonzalez, it took less than a day for the power to go out
n See HOUSING on PAGE 3