Running for Holy Cross Student Government Association (SGA) president and vice president, first-years Dion Payne-Miller and Oscar Jarmon hope to strengthen the connection between Gateways, Driscolls and Holy Cross students.
Payne-Miller said he would like to see more of an effort to build relationships between students and argued that, if elected, he would like to have more social bonding time through events such as movies on the lawn.
Born and raised in South Bend, Payne-Miller is an economics major with a minor in political science. He is a member of the Table Tennis Club at Notre Dame and also serves on the South Bend Table Tennis executive board.
Jarmon is from Dallas, Texas, and is a computer science major and biology minor. He is a member of the Black Student Association at Holy Cross. He is also a part of the rugby and wrestling clubs at Notre Dame.
Jarmon argued that strengthening connections within the community is very important. He said he and Payne-Miller also desire to strengthen the Holy Cross community.
“I noticed that the community is not entirely whole,” Jarmon said. “I mean, you have so many social groups, and they’re not connected.”
Payne-Miller argued one way to strengthen the Holy Cross community would be to make it more diverse.
“I think we should be focusing not only on international students but also just trying to get more of a diverse community. I think our professors should reflect our population too,” he said. “I’m not saying that we don’t have that now. All I’m saying is that I think it would be awesome to have more of a diverse group of people here.”
Jarmon emphasized the importance of forming a strong community within the Holy Cross student body.
“I want to make sure all of the people here are all connected first before we go out and connect ourselves with the world around us,” he said.
He added he and Payne-Miller want to focus on the needs of Holy Cross students.
“The first thing we have to do is start with the students, hear what their problem is, find a solution for it and see how we can go about it,” Jarmon said.
Payne-Miller and Jarmon are also passionate about increasing the activities available to students on campus.
“Many people have really good ideas for clubs, but they’re too afraid to bring it up to SGA,” Jarmon said. “I want to have more of a welcoming SGA. If [students] have any concerns or they have any good ideas for a new club, they can come to us and ask us about it. I’m all for clubs that can help advance the school.”
Jarmon said there weren’t many clubs available at the Student Activities Fair, and he desires to change that.
“I don’t want money to be an issue [for clubs],” Payne-Miller said. “I think whether that’s through having fundraisers, asking for donations or whatever we have to do, money cannot be a problem.”
He also said that the ticket wants to strengthen involvement within the tri-campus community.
“I want people from Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s to come here and join our clubs and be part of our events,” he said.
He said he and Jarmon want to leave an impact that not only benefits the current students but also those who are a part of Holy Cross’s community in the future.
“The reason why I want the job is because I care about Holy Cross College, and I care about the many people who are going to be coming to this school years from now,” Payne-Miller said. “Oscar and I might get started on a project, and we might not see the immediate results from it, but that doesn’t mean that five or six years from now, some of the work Oscar and I do couldn’t have a lasting impact on generations.”
New ticket joins Holy Cross SGA election race
Courtesy of Dion Payne-Milelr
First-years Dion Payne-Miller (left) and Oscar Jarmon joined the race for Holy Cross Student Government Association president and vice president, and hope to strengthen tri-campus connections.
