SGA officers prepare for new year
While many East Carolina University students take a pause this summer, Student Government Association president Daniel Walker and vice president Katie Council are busy preparing for the fall semester that starts Aug. 25.
New this year will be SGA Sips and Solutions, where students can enjoy coffee and conversations with SGA members and an ECU administrator each semester on the Main Campus Student Center lawn.
Student Government Association president Daniel Walker and vice president Katie Council
Helping students be seen and heard was a key platform point in Walker and Council’s election campaign. They created a director position to liaison with student clubs to promote all that SGA offers such as a photo booth inside the SGA office that provides free head shots for students. They also encourage impromptu drop-ins at the SGA office.
Another new initiative in coordination with ECU Student Health will be the placement of health vending machines and lockers, where students can discreetly pick up needed hygiene items and information on campus after hours and weekends.
Walker and Council also are working with ECU leadership to implement student wellness days, which has been a longtime SGA goal. Several UNC System institutions have already adopted and incorporated wellness days into academic calendars as breaks for students to recharge and focus on their mental, physical and emotional health. Additionally, Walker and Council have initiated discussions on creating a standardized advising process for students across all majors.
Choosing ECU
Walker and Council are eastern North Carolina natives and Brinkley-Lane Scholars in the ECU Honors College and have known each other since meeting freshman year at the scholars’ orientation retreat in Ocracoke.
Walker, from Currituck, graduated with his bachelor’s degree in public health earlier this year and is pursuing a master’s degree in public administration with a concentration in health care administration. Council, from nearby Washington, is a senior majoring in business administration in accounting with an entrepreneurship certificate.
Both said they chose ECU because they felt welcomed and a sense of community where they were “more than a number.”
“I can tell there’s a genuine care and Southern hospitality that I love at this school, and that really drew me here,” Walker said.
“I know with some bigger schools you feel like just a statistic,” Council added. “Here I feel like people truly care about you, the faculty truly care about you. It’s proven to be true because of all the opportunities that I’ve received at ECU I just know I would not have received anywhere else.”
With a love of math and numbers, Council explored health care and finance as a career before choosing accounting.
SGA President
Name: Daniel Walker
Hometown: Currituck
Year: Graduate student
Major: Public administration with a concentration in health care administration
SGA Vice President
Name: Katie Council
Hometown: Washington
Year: Senior
Major: Business administration in accounting and entrepreneurship certificate
Walker, who grew up in an area with limited health care access, knew he wanted to help make things better. He’s really interested in the administration and policy side of health.
Their moms are also ECU alumnae. Council’s mother Brandy is a third-grade teacher in Washington and Walker’s mother, Cindy, is a librarian and social studies teacher at Currituck Middle School.
Council’s brother Jacob will become a Pirate this fall as a first-year student.
Serving ECU
Walker and Council’s focus on student health and wellness and accessibility are guiding their work into the academic year.
“One of the really big things about why I wanted to be in this position is because this community has invested so much in me and I wanted to give back to it,” Walker said. “I knew Katie was going to be a great pick for VP because she is so invested in our campus and in different programs. We both have so many interests, we’re from two different areas, and we knew that we could represent a large number of students through this role and give back to them.”
Daniel Walker, right, and Katie Council are serving as president and vice president, respectively, of the ECU Student Government Association. (Contributed photo)
Walker approached Council over a year ago to gauge her interest in putting together a ticket.
“In this role, you have so much room to create change for students on campus and just really speak for them,” Council said. “I’m grateful that Daniel asked me to do this. I’m excited to be working with him. He’s definitely a great advocate for our university and our students.”
Beyond their Honors College connection, Walker and Council have collaborated on philanthropy events and fundraising through their respective fraternity (Phi Kappa Alpha) and sorority (Alpha Xi Delta).
As SGA president, Walker is an ex-officio member of the ECU Board of Trustees, where he represents ECU’s student body in policy and decision making. He sits on the UNC System Council of Student Body Presidents with representatives from each of the system’s 17 campuses.
Last year he served on the UNC System Association of Student Governments as vice president of health and wellness.
Walker serves on the ECU Student Academic Appellate Committee, a student/faculty committee. He is an Honors College ambassador and has tutored in the Pirate Academic Success Center. Walker also served as a founding member, vice president, special events and chartering chair for his fraternity. Walker previously served the SGA as director of university affairs and as the Honors College representative.
Council is a new SGA member but has been involved in several campus organizations. She served as philanthropy vice president of her sorority. She’s on the Deans Student Leadership Council in the ECU College of Business, where she is an accounting honors society chapter member and will attend the annual conference in Texas in August.