Coleman savors last days as student body president

It’s his third interview of the day. A video crew preps outside of his office to film a piece for Lead IU. An administration member pops in to ask a quick question, which he answers promptly. Such is the early evening for IU Student Association President Michael Coleman in the final days of his administration.

As he enters his last days in office, Coleman reflects back on a year in which IUSA completed the majority of its platforms. His administration has completed five of six platforms in the areas of campus safety, fall break, a GPS bus tracking system, student group connection and the establishment of the IU Sustainability Fund.

“I’m astonished to see what we’ve done with connecting with the campus, connecting different student organizations and working with student organizations,” he said. “We want to make sure we are the voice without overpowering the voice of other student leaders because I think we are all important and have vital roles in what we do.” 

Despite the passing of fall break, an IUSA initiative for decades, Coleman said he wants his legacy to be a different platform.

The iConnect platform aimed to unite underrepresented and minority student groups on campus.

This year IUSA did more programming and partnering with other organizations to present events, such as the Pakistani flood relief efforts last October, the Middle East panel discussion and the coach Kevin Wilson meet-and-greet in March.

“IUSA needs to serve as a medium of bringing student groups together,” Coleman said.
Inspiration for the iConnect platform came from Coleman’s freshman year.

“I went to CultureFest my freshman year and I saw all my friends there, and I started to realize that IU does this thing where students start to sector themselves off into the environment that they’re used to and they stay in those types of environments. I wanted to fight and combat that,” he said.

Coleman got involved with IUSA during his sophomore year, when he served as representative of Teter Quad in the IUSA Congress.

However, Coleman had higher aspirations upon entering IU.

“I knew I wanted to be president of whichever organization was student government,” he said.

Coleman and Peter SerVaas, senior and Coleman’s current vice president of administration, met each other during their freshman year.

Since then, SerVaas went on to serve as IUSA president during the 2009-10 school year, and it was during that time when he was approached by Coleman, who was interested in running for president.

“I knew what it took and I saw that in him,” SerVaas said.

SerVaas noted Coleman’s charismatic nature, saying that unlike during his presidency, students on campus know who their IUSA president is, largely in part due to Coleman’s dedication to getting out on campus.

“People know who Mike is. Mike is always out there, always ready to be the face of the organization,” SerVaas said. “Whether or not students are in support of IUSA, they should be appreciative for Michael and those that serve in the role in the future. They’re spending countless hours trying to better the University and the student body.”

Serving as IUSA student body president has made Coleman more assertive, SerVaas said.

“Sometimes I’ve been no-holds-barred just because I want to see some things done,” Coleman said. “I want to voice my opinions. I haven’t held back a lot. This year, I’ve been very vocal about things I didn’t agree with, that I wanted to see change. That’s been different for me because I haven’t been like that. It’s different because you hear politicians say that they hold their tongues, but I’ve found it more beneficial for me not to.”

Though there were many high points to his administration, such as fall break and interacting with the student body, Coleman said, there were some negatives.

“Congress didn’t go exactly as I would have wanted it to go,” he said. “Students need to appreciate their roles in it, and it needs to be marketed better than it has in the past. If we could get students from different organizations to serve in Congress seats it helps out Congress a lot more. Congress is always something I always appreciate. They’ve got a lot done this year, but we could have been a little bit stronger.” 

Another subject is his final platform: the bike-sharing program.

“The bike program might not be able to happen under my administration and that’s something I’m a little sour about. Hopefully that can happen if the next administration wants to take it on. Hopefully they do. We’ll see,” he said.

With the successful record of accomplishing platforms, the next administration has much to live up to, Coleman said.

“Next year, it’s going to be on the next IUSA administration to be just as successful or better and build on the things that we’ve done. It’s going to be expected by the student body. The bar is pretty high right now,” he said.

After a year in office, Coleman has some advice for his successor, Justin Kingsolver, who will assume office Friday.

“Be open to different individuals. Not everyone’s going to have the same mind-set. Have an open door policy. Be everywhere that you can be. You’re going to be an ambassador to the student body. Be positive and uplifting to all student organizations, not just those you may have served in. Everybody’s important and value their opinions when making big decisions,” Coleman said.

Though Coleman will be leaving the office of the president in the Student Activities Tower behind, the senior will be staying on campus for at least another semester.

“I’ll miss the position definitely, but I’ll make up for it in other things,” he said.

He plans to work on IUSA’s Committee for Fee Review and is considering getting involved in a position in his fraternity before eventual plans to attend law school. 
Before he leaves, however, Coleman will leave one last mark on IUSA.

Coleman pulled out a large wooden drawer from his desk, revealing lines filled with signatures and past presidents’ business cards, some white and crisp, others bent, yellow and faded.

He hasn’t yet signed the board. After all, there’s still a week full of work ahead.