Rising to the Challenge

Jordan Brown is a busy woman. It was a beautiful, sunny Monday afternoon, but Brown was indoors, buzzing back and forth between the Student Government offices and the foyer area of the Student Union building. SGA was hosting a drop-in event for students to meet the provost, and while it was an informal, more casual affair, everything still had to be up to snuff.

For detail-oriented Brown, “satisfactory” is not enough. Perfection – or as close as possible – or bust: that was the name of the game. And she pursued it with a charming smile, a good sense of humor and an approachable warmth.

“They delivered the donuts early,” she explained with a laugh as she power-walked out of the Student Success Center. “They got here at 1:30, but the event doesn’t start until 3, so half of them are already gone.”

This is what a typical day for the student body president, who is also a senior doublemajoring in psychology and sociology, looks like. Brown oversees SGA and its many committees, boards and branches, and she also serves as the foremost advocate on campus for students. She acts as a direct communication line between students and administration, delivering feedback she receives from her peers straight to the desks of the most powerful people at the university. She is also in charge of making the administration more accessible to the average student.

Despite all of these responsibilities, Brown miraculously manages to stay on top of everything.

“I could probably do a lot better,” Brown admitted. “Google Calendar is my best friend. My actual friends are also very good at holding me accountable and making sure I’m taking care of myself.”

Brown has been a part of SGA since first stepping foot at UT. She joined the First Year Council her freshman year, and she served two terms as a senator and parliamentarian in the undergraduate senate. When the end of her junior year rolled around, she was faced with an important decision: continue serving in the senate or stepping up to the plate as a presidential candidate.

When it was finally time for elections, Brown found herself running unopposed.

“It was a leap of faith,” Brown said. “I hadn’t heard about anyone else running, and I couldn’t imagine just leaving the future of SGA to the wayside. I couldn’t watch this ship crash and burn or sail into the sunset, especially since I had been so heavily involved.”

“Of course, I was stepping out of my comfort zone, but why couldn’t I do it? There were no reasons holding me back.”

Now, a year after the election, Brown and her team say they are satisfied with the work they have done thus far, especially in bridging gaps between SGA, its student body constituents and university administration. These lapses were especially aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and Brown’s government knew they wanted to prioritize rekindling former relationships and building new ones when they came into power.

“Sadly, I ran unopposed, which was a bigger reflection on the fact that SGA didn’t have many connections with students or administration coming out of the pandemic,” Brown said. “A lot of work was done internally or through Zoom [during COVID], but our campaign wanted to prioritize doing in-person events and going out and actually building those connections.”

Senior Juliet Gear serves as chief of staff on Brown’s cabinet. Her responsibilities include supporting Brown during her official duties and acting as a liaison between SGA branches and administration.

“Previously, student government didn’t know how much we could change things like advising and majors,” Juliet Gear, senior and SGA Chief of Staff said. “Jordan took the initiative to build up relationships with Student Success and the Office of the Provost and work with on initiatives with them.”

Another priority Brown has is making sure to address issues that students find important. Sometimes, this means issuing statements on difficult and controversial topics.

During the summer of 2022, SGA released a statement on the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the subsequent banning of abortion in Tennessee. In the statement, SGA shared information on resources to help students during that uncertain time and invited members of the community to share their thoughts on the situation.

More recently, SGA issued a statement in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols. Brown says she is usually less involved in the actual writing process, but she played a more active role for this one. As a Black student from Memphis, it was more personal.

“It impacted my home,” Brown said. “It impacted my family.”

“A lot of the statement reads ‘Jordan.’ It’s literally my heart on paper.”

Brown drew inspiration for the statement from conversations she was having with her family and friends. She also used supportive efforts undertaken by UT administration to center her statement, such as the reflection space event hosted at the Frieson Black Cultural Center. Additionally, she consulted and coordinated with several prominent Black student organizations to further elevate Black students’ voices.

In addition to these hot button issues, Brown has worked on a number of other initiatives to better students’ experiences on campus. One her team is particularly excited about is bringing the Aunt Flow program to UT. This program helps schools and workplaces provide free and sustainable menstrual products in their facilities. The project is a work in progress and the culmination of several years of negotiations through many SGA administrations.

“The funny thing about being in this position is that you think it’s just a one-year process and things will get done, but it’s actually continuing projects multiple years in the making,” Brown said. “I had to pick up that work and try to take it further through my year.”

Previous SGA presidents had championed the cause of free menstrual products on campus, but Brown and her cabinet were able to make meaningful progress this year with university administration. The program’s details are currently being finalized, and it is only a matter of waiting for those first shipments of product.

While Brown made community relationships a priority, she has not neglected to foster a welcoming and efficient environment within SGA itself. She has worked towards cultivating a respectful and friendly workplace culture while also not being afraid to hold her peers accountable for their responsibilities.

“Jordan has done a really good job prioritizing internal relationships and making sure everything is done well,” Mark Hancock, junior and student body vice president, said. “It’s important to build those relationships because, when those relationships are strong, it makes us as an organization stronger.”

“When everyone knows each other and knows each other’s strengths and weaknesses, it’s easier to get those big outside projects done.”

As Brown approaches the end of her last semester on Rocky Top, she reflected on what she is leaving behind and the experience she has gained.

“I have become very comfortable with the fact that change is not linear, and it takes time,” Brown said. “There are things I’m working on that I may not even see come to fruition, but it’s all about how I laid that foundation for the people that will come after me.”

She hopes her efforts this year have made it clear there is no one “right” type of person for SGA, and more people will make the effort to engage in student advocacy and student government.

“As long as you have that passion to want to advocate for your fellow students and you have issues you want to work towards on this campus, you can run for student body president or any of the elected top four positions,” Brown said. “There’s a stereotype that there’s a certain type of person for SGA, and that’s just not true.”