Taylor Stokes holds one of the most important leadership positions at SJU. She is the school’s first black female student body president.
Stokes is in her senior year at SJU, majoring in Criminal Justice with a minor in Justice and Ethics in Law. She was inspired to run after having been a part of the school senate since the start of her freshman year.
“I really just wanted to represent the needs of the students to the best of my abilities…And I feel like being in the student body president role allows me the platform to do so,” says Taylor when asked about her initial inspiration for running for office.
She hopes to inspire others by creating a more inclusive and diverse campus community.
Stokes first discovered the University Student Senate at the activities fair in her freshman year, thinking that it held the responsibilities of programming and scheduling events (the actual responsibilities of Hawk Hill Productions).
She quickly learned that student senators have far more influence about important conversations with campus events that shape the student’s lives. Lately, she’s been discussing topics such as the recent USciences merger as well as the “UPenn controversy.”
What makes her role even more impressive is how she can fit the position into her already full schedule of being an RA, sorority member, founding member of the #BeCivil campaign, and orientation leader.
She handles her presidential responsibilities between classes by fielding concerns from other students and hearing ideas from other members of the senate.
It’s a busy and demanding job, but it’s a perfect one for someone as driven as Taylor.
