In the Student Governing Association, undergraduate members are inducted proportional to the student populations of each college at Kansas State University. However, graduate student senators are responsible for representing graduate students from all colleges, not just their own.
With this in mind, Marcus Kidd, senator and graduate student in counseling and student development, clearly has a lot on his plate.
Kidd’s experience in SGA goes back to his time as an undergraduate at K-State. Kidd said his fraternity’s involvement in student engagement also spurred his interest in student senate.
“I’m a big ‘try it’ person — because why not?” Kidd said. “I’ve always been one interested in community engagement.”
Kidd took time off from SGA at the beginning of his graduate school career, but he is now involved in the organization once again, being both the college caucus leader of the graduate school and a member of multiple committees.
“I decided to get back into the ring,” Kidd said. “[Joining senate] would make the most sense. The role that I had seen in myself that I wanted to pursue was the higher-level reflective thinking.”
From there, Kidd has been an adviser and mentor for undergraduates beginning their journey into student senate. He said he enjoys having the experience and capacity to elevate the position of a senator.
While it is not expected for graduate students to be in committees, Kidd said he is elevating that expectation. He is involved in the Privilege Fee Committee as well as the Classroom Planning Committee and Student Senate Tuition Enhancement Committee.
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Kidd said he hopes to continue improving student senate internally, including improving the diversity of opinions in the organization.
“I think there’s a lot that could be done,” Kidd said. “I understand representation can be hard to facilitate, but I think we can be more intentional to work toward that.”
In the future, Kidd said he wants to see more general student involvement with student senate to get more people to file for positions.
“Outwardly, we as students don’t realize our power,” Kidd said. “There’s a large opportunity for the student body to implement change on campus. I think there’s more items on the student agenda that can hopefully be impactful to all students.”
Not only does Kidd encourage engagement for students within SGA, but he said he has hope students will find an outlet for their passion anywhere on campus.
“As I think about the old saying, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’ … I think each student has the capacity and passion — not even relating to senate — they wish they could change,” Kidd said.
Kidd said his care for students runs deep, as he is currently getting his doctoral degree in counseling and student development.
“I want to go into higher education administration,” Kidd said. “I feel like college is a very important part of a student’s life. There needs to be staff and mentors for students.”
When deciding to go to graduate school, Kidd said he knew education was a key element in pursuing his goals in administering higher education.
“As I see what role I could have, I think about the educational component that goes with it,” Kidd said. “You don’t want to go to a doctor with outdated knowledge of medicine because our health is important to us. Likewise, it’s important to see that in all realms. Whatever I’m doing, I can maximize the knowledge I could learn about the particular process through being able to express different theoretical frameworks.”
With all the things Kidd is involved in, all these organizations have the same goal: bettering the lives of students on campus.
