Leader ‘Views: Kaytee Lozier, Hofstra University
Over the summer, ONE’s team of interns called up some of last year’s Campus Leaders to talk about their ideas, experiences and advice. We’re sharing excerpts from these interviews here in the hope that these will inspire and motivate you in the 2009-10 season.
-Emily
What challenges did you face as you were starting your ONE group?
Since Hofstra is such a big campus, the hardest part of starting our ONE chapter was getting the word out to all of the students and getting them interested in coming out to our meetings. Also, our school was very activism-oriented already so a lot of the people who were interested in our group already had meetings at the same time for clubs like Progressive Students Union. It was difficult to tailor to everyone’s schedule.
How did you use your individual strengths/demographic to reach out to others, form your group or complete a particular action?
I found that the best way to get people interested in our club when we were facing these challenges was through personal interaction. I would walk up to a table in the student center and tell students what our group was all about and ask them to sign up for the OCC. People are more likely to listen to a person than take the time to read a flier.
What advice do you have for someone who is just getting started leading a group on their campus?
My best advice would be to always keep it fun. We have to remember that we are trying to change the world in a positive way, and focusing on that positive change is so important. We need to know the facts about global poverty in order to fight it, and sometimes the facts can be depressing, and people try to avoid things that are upsetting. So if you keep your focus on how their help will do GOOD in this world, people will become more engaged and excited about your cause.
How did you deal with bureaucracy at your school?
This was one of our toughest challenges once we became an established group on campus. Unfortunately our school can be quite unorganized when it comes to events management, so for most events we held there would be some last minute complication like Events Management giving the same space at the same time to two different clubs. We were also limited in what we could actually do in terms of creativity because there is a lot of red tape at Hofstra. If your school gives you a lot of freedom, I would recommend getting as creative as possible and putting up large displays that will attract students. If your school is similar to mine where there are a lot of borders you must stay within, do your best to get the administration on your side and get as creative as you are allowed.
Why do you think it is important for students to start these groups?
College students should recognize what a powerful voice they have when they come together to accomplish something. Campuses are a great setting to educate a large group of people who will potentially go on to make big changes in the world. There are numerous opportunities for activism on a college campus so it is a great place to start a group like ONE.
Did you have any school funds to work with? If yes, how did you face any challenges with restrictions on those funds? In not, how did you deal with not having funds?
We had to go through Student Government to get funds for our club. It was a difficult process because you had to have your exact outline for what you needed the money for in order to get it, and this made things like OCC weekly challenges difficult. By the time we know what the weekly challenge was, it was too late to request the money from SGA. Also, when we would raise money at events we would always donate all of it to organizations like Keep a Child Alive and a school in Kenya that we have been working with and we would never keep any of the money for our own club. This made it more difficult to hold events in the future. My advice would be to hold some small fundraising events that are specifically for your club funding so that when you hold an event for a charity you can give them all of the money you raised at that event.
How did you balance OCC activities with other commitments?
Between running a club, working two jobs and a full course load, it was sometimes difficult to micromanage everything. I was able to balance everything because I had a very strong e-board that made it easy to delegate tasks. It’s important to make sure that everyone is contributing to setting up events and getting people to join the OCC.
How did you market your club? Did you have any issues competing with organizations with similar missions?
Besides word of mouth we utilized fliers, advertisements, radio interviews and tabling in the student center to market our club. We tried our best to work with clubs with similar missions rather than compete with them. Holding events where clubs with similar goals co-sponsor is a great way to get everyone involved, have more help, and get more people to come to the event. The only difficulty was finding a meeting time that didn’t interfere with any of these similar clubs.
What kept you going when you were really busy or really frustrated?
The cause itself is enough to keep you going through the hard times. When you start getting frustrated about little things when you are coordinating events, you have to stop and think about why you are doing all of this in the first place. Doing this will refocus and inspire you to stay positive and focus on the end goal rather than the obstacles you face along the way.
Did you find any shortcuts?
Unfortunately Hofstra doesn’t really have any shortcuts, you really have to run back and forth from office to office to get anything accomplished. There is a lot of paperwork to get through. There are no shortcuts with advertising either. The more you work to get the word out, the better your chances of having a good turnout.
What was your group’s most creative idea?
My chapter once held a table in the student center where we had free food and water. Students who walked up to our table had to pick the name of an impoverished country out of a hat, and however much an average family had in that country to spend on food for the whole family was how much food the student could take from the table. We used the ploy of free food to attract people to our table and then they learned something important from the experience. A lot of people signed up for the One Campus Challenge that day.
In five steps, what do you think leaders need to do to get started?
First, find at least one person who wants to start the club with you. This will make getting started a lot easier. Second, set up a time for weekly meetings and tell anyone you can about it (in person, through facebook, fliers, etc.) Third, spend the first meeting telling people what ONE is all about, what it means to you, and what you want to accomplish through your group and ask everyone to come back next week with some creative ideas for spreading your message on campus. Fourth, focus on new recruits as much as you can for the first couple of months. The more people you have in your group, the more you will be able to accomplish. These will also be people that can take over for your when you graduate. Lastly, take advantage of the OCC website, the people at ONE like Maisie, and your COA to come up with innovative ideas and get the tools you need to be successful. ONE is about millions of people coming together, it’s about using teamwork to get things accomplished, and you should do the same in your club.
TAGS: HOFSTRA, Uncategorized