BecomingTU: A Reflection On An Election That Changed My Life
The first all female team has been elected to represent the Temple University student body.
A group of women came together and believed. They had a vision for change and decided to share it with the place they call home.
BecomingTU is a campaign devoted to each Owl on Temple University's campus: Be Celebrated, Be Inclusive and Be Transformed. Through this vision, the executive team and their campaign worked tirelessly to fill any and all cracks to create a platform that every Temple student could benefit from.
When I was recruited a little over six weeks ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. As silly as that sounds, the campaign has changed my life is so many ways. It ignited confidence that I didn't even realize was within me, and it ignited me to make the difference on this campus and explore every inch of the school I call home.
A specific platform point that resonated particularly with me was their vision to initiate a program for students returning to Temple after taking a Leave of Absence. Taking a break from school is not socially accepted, but I think one of the biggest things a student can accomplish is being able to take a step back, reevaluate, collect their thoughts and emotions and return to their education in their own time.
While this campaign has been the bane of my existence over the last month, I could not be more grateful to be on a team that motivated me to believe in a cause that was greater than myself. The team consisted of 26 beautiful, talented and driven individuals that just so happened to be all women.
And no – we were not recruited on to this team because of our gender, but instead because every single person was the most qualified for their position.
BecomingTU is the first all women's ticket in Temple University history.
The support we received was overwhelming, however, in the same breath, the backlash was at times, extremely draining. The campaign was ridiculed for being all women, and some even said that we would not represent the student body accurately based solely on our gender, not considering any of our strengths and experience.
However, as I said before, we quickly recovered from the negatives due to the vast number of people reaching out to simply tell us how empowered the campaign made them feel – to me, that, in itself, made the whole experience worthwhile regardless of the outcome.
To the BecomingTU team, thank you for believing me and entrusting me to execute your vision and incorporating my ideas into the final outcome.
Every member of the team made me feel wanted and loved and as though my opinion held value. Sleep deprivation is a thing, but I wouldn't trade the last month for the world.
On behalf of the entire BecomingTU campaign, thank you for selecting us as your 2019-2020 administration and we cannot wait to serve the Temple University student body!
Caleb Dawkins
