BYREBECCA WASKEVICH, STAFF WRITER
Jacob Schuhmann is a senior at Bellarmine University and is the vice presidnet of public relations for Student Government Association. Schuhmann, who has battled dyslexia since he was a child, has been very involved in several marquee SGA initiatives. He sat down with The Concord to talk about his experience at Bellarmine and what he feels he has contributed to the Bellarmine community.
RW: Why did you join SGA?
JS: Well, I was on SGA for my freshman and sophomore years. I wasn’t actually on it; I worked as a lobbyist type person. That’s when I did the bill that got the digital signage up around campus, all the TV’s. We did other large-scale bills where I worked with a representative that had a vote, but I didn’t have a vote. I would stand up and give the presentation and they would read the motion, the voting-member portion of what you have to do to get a bill passed. I did that for the first two years because I didn’t feel like being fully involved. I wanted to have influence without running because I thought it was fun to see what you could do as a “private citizen.” Finally, I thought I might as well run because there was a special election for executive board for marketing. So I ran unopposed, and I’ve been on it junior year and senior year. It’s a lot different being on the assembly.
RW: What’s been your biggest accomplishment in SGA?
JS: Probably the digital signage and the phone chargers. I did the bill to get the phone charging stations, and I did a bill along with a partner to get the digital signage. Those are probably the two biggest things I’ve done on SGA. The thing I’m doing this year, which is a slow process, I started a TEDx committee. We’re trying to get a TED conference to come to Bellarmine. I started that committee at the beginning of the year. That was solely spearheaded by me and our adviser Shawn Apostle. It’s been really cool. We have four or five people, excited people that are doing a lot of really good work.
RW: What’s your least favorite part of SGA?
JS: I’d say the formality of it. The formality can make it intimidating for the student body, which are the people we’re helping to want to come into the meeting. I think overall that can be difficult because you have Robert’s Rules of Order, which is intimidating because no one knows how it works unless you do it all the time. Plus you’re coming up to all these people in suits and you have to talk in front of 30 people just to have your small club travel somewhere. There’s still small things that people have to go to the entire assembly to present to, and some people can’t do that. Just because you can’t talk in front of 30 people and answer questions properly doesn’t mean you’re not prepared and doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to go somewhere.
RW: What’s your overall legacy at Bellarmine?
JS: I’m in the marketing campaign, and that’s pretty cool. So I’m hanging up on banners around campus, and I’m in the campus commercial. I do a lot of work for learning disabled students. I like to sit on panels and talk about dyslexia because I have dyslexia. I’ve had to change classes in the School of Communication, and I’ve had to change whole tests so that I can make it through.
I wasn’t even supposed to be in college. It took me nine times to take the ACT to get into Bellarmine. There’s one in 50 students with dyslexia that make it into higher education. So I always try to talk about that at Bellarmine as much as possible. I think my time on SGA and my time working with academics and maybe being able to work with academics in the future will be a part of my legacy at Bellarmine.
RW: What has been the most influential experience you’ve had at Bellarmine?
JS: Definitely the most influential that has happened to me at Bellarmine was the Guatemala service trip that I went on. That takes all the education that you’ve had at Bellarmine and puts it in a humanitarian perspective, and understanding why this matters.
Sometimes you hate being in school, but then you see that 90 percent of the world isn’t even in any education system at all. Then you’re like, “Oh, I should probably appreciate everything that I have.” So it was cool to go on that junior year and get the perspective of what you have and what you don’t have. That’s the liberal arts portion of Bellarmine’s education, I think.
RW: What advice would you give to new leaders on campus?
JS: If you really want to make a difference, join SGA. That’s the best organization to make a difference with, either SGA or BAC. If you ever need to find a good source of information, read The Concord.