Student Body Treasurer candidate: ‘It just comes down to experience’
At first glance, Coy Gibson may not look like he belongs on the dance floor, but the candidate for student body treasurer candidate grew up taking and instructing cotillion lessons. Evident from his campaign kickoff event last week — “Together Let’s Shag” — South Carolina’s state dance is his favorite.
But for the most part, Gibson is all business. He explains his concerns and goals for Student Government in a straightforward, informed manner.
The second-year political science student from Lugoff, S.C., is currently the chairman of SG’s Senate Finance Committee. Previously, he served on Freshman Council, where he co-chaired the Freshman Outreach Committee, before attaining a seat in the student senate for the College of Arts and Sciences.
While he hasn’t taken finance classes, Gibson highlights his experience in the Finance Committee as a qualification for treasurer.
“When it comes down to for USC finances, it just comes down to experience,” he said. “When we meet with organization leaders and deliberate what we’re going to do with funding, I have a combined 50 hours straight being in the conference room and the SG office … And when you have that experience behind you, you know what’s going on.”
Gibson, who recently transitioned from the Capstone Scholars Program into the Honors College, is a resident mentor of Capstone House, where he lived his freshman year and where he will return as an RM next year.
“It keeps me grounded,” Gibson said. “I find my niche in serving others.”
Through Capstone, Gibson became a peer mentor for a sixth grader at Hand Middle School. Gibson is also a leadership scholar with the Carolina Leadership Initiative, where students are given grants for their initiatives.
“Mine was working with student organization leaders and understanding where the communication gaps are on campus,” Gibson said. “There aren’t many options … for a new student to communicate with an organization. I’m looking for alternative solutions to improve those communications.”
Gibson aims to utilize the student activity fund — the $185,000 split among student organizations. He says the Finance Committee created a financial record this year that allows members to see how organizations have spent their portion of the fund.
“We will explain to them that if you utilize all your money we give to you, responsibly, we can then — the ultimate goal — go to the administration as organization leaders and Student Government and say, ‘We’re using all our funding; there’s no reason we shouldn’t have more,’” Gibson said. “I’m not promising that this can happen in one year, but if we can (I want to) change the mindset that all organizations are mutually dependent upon one another.”
Gibson says he approaches some of the goals he has for SG and student organizations with a quote his dad taught him when he was little: “What the mind of man conceive and believe, the mind of man can achieve.”
“If you think it, you can do it,” Gibson said. “We can go as far as we think we can go, and my job is to make sure I leave the door open wide … I see what finance is like, and I see the path to get to increased funding, and it’s my job to relay that message and explain how high we can truly go. It’s important for us as a university to continually want to get more people involved, to find better, more efficient ways to do things.”
Gibson says that his campaign slogan “Together Let’s” primarily focuses on developing others into leaders and working together to achieve goals.
“I want others to grow as well. That’s what ‘Together Let’s’ means for me,” Gibson said. “That’s why I’m an RM; that’s how I serve others.”