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Student spotlight: Nick Hopkins, 2020-2021 student body president

Student+spotlight%3A+Nick+Hopkins%2C+2020-2021+student+body+president

Sadie LeComte

Digital Editor

Samantha Clark

Editor in Chief

On April 11, Nicholas Hopkins won an uncontested election for student body president. He and Kristen Prejean will succeed Jacob Ellis and Cherish Wilson as president and vice president, respectively.

Hopkins joined Student Government Association his freshman year after being a member of his high school’s student council.

He said he knew once he got on campus that he wanted to join student government. Seeing all the work people like former President Tre Nelson did on campus made him want to join, he said.

Right away, Hopkins knew this was not like student council, he said.

“(SGA) was an organization that had true power to make positive and beneficial changes to (NSU),” he said.

Hopkins ran for the Senate and was elected in the spring 2018 semester. The following semester, then Speaker Triston Bussell resigned, and a new speaker was needed.

Hopkins was among those to vie for the post, saying he felt he had the experience to lead.

“I am heavily involved in the Louisiana Boy’s State program, and that program is all about state government, civic engagement and education in those aspects,” he said.

He said his knowledge of parliamentary procedure and determination prepared him for the role.

Following his first stint in SGA, Hopkins was elected to the senate again his sophomore year and once again was elected speaker.

During the summer 2019 cabinet retreat, Hopkins said Ellis approached him with the idea of wanting to increase and improve SGA’s civic engagement policy, which Hopkins spearheaded.

Over this academic year, SGA held voter registration drives and hosted candidates for state and local elections. A candidate forum was scheduled ahead of Louisiana’s election day but was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As president Hopkins said he wants to “continue to build off of what previous administrations have done.”

With the coronavirus epidemic still looming, Hopkins said SGA will be looking at ways for a return to campus life.

One of Hopkins’ and Prejean’s initiatives is focusing on student health, he said.

Because of the added stress students are under due to the virus, Hopkins said he wants to make the transition to campus comfortable and beneficial for students.

A broader plan of action will be conceived following the cabinet selection, he said.

Going forward, he said he and SGA are ready to help advance NSU.

“We are absolutely ready to get to work,” he said.

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