In an interview with The Sentinel hours prior to the swearing-in of his new administration on April 26, then Student Government Association President-Elect Zae Brewer shared his feelings about his election to the office, his plans for his administration and why he decided to run.
Brewer, when speaking about his election, called it a momentous victory.
“It was momentous given that we were running in a three-way election,” he said. “One who was a popular senator who was Greek-affiliated, and the other is the sitting vice president who has had an extensive amount of experience in SGA.”
Brewer argued that what gave his ticket an advantage that ultimately led to his victory was the fact that he and then Vice President-Elect Anthony Harrison are well-known by many different students who he said come from different walks of life.
“I’m friends with everyone from random people to Greeks, to athletes,” he said. “[and] I built a good reputation working with the Dems this year rebuilding my relationship with the Republicans.”
Brewer also said later in the interview that he had a different perspective than his opponents, pointing to the year that he had spent outside of SGA after leaving the court. While outside of the court, he led multiple organizations and helped restart the Kennesaw State chapter of the American Red Cross.
He said that he respects his opponents, but his viewpoint was that of an outside student who sees the ongoing issues as normal students would after that yearlong hiatus.
“The students trusted who they know,” Brewer said.
When talking about what prepared him to take on this new role, he said that all the organizations that he had worked with each contributed to preparing him for the position by providing him with a deeper understanding of how the university operates.
He said that being part of the Student Activities Budget Advisory Committee helped him understand the financial side of the university while adding that the NAACP and American Red Cross helped him to understand service from what he called a humanitarian perspective.
Brewer said that out of all the organizations he was a part of, the two he believes best prepared him to lead were the American Red Cross and SABAC.
“With SABAC and the Red Cross presidency it was all about humanitarian efforts and service to the people,” Brewer said. “That’s what I think prepared me best.”
He said that the first issue his administration will tackle is transparency. Brewer said that he and Harrison’s three-part plan includes mental health, transparency and student involvement and that he plans to tackle transparency through his new Director of Public Relations, John Brogan.
“We’re going to revamp the social media, be more active with The Sentinel,” he said. “I think it’s just important for the students to know what’s going on.”
An example of an existing lack of transparency, he said, was the lack of SGA records available for students to see on the SGA website. He said he wants to make SGA more visible to the student body, calling for a change that he says would amount to the organization “changing with the times”.
“We need to do more than just, you know, put out tables and say ‘hi, this is who we are’ and then we disappear for three months,” Brewer said.
He also spoke about the violent attack on Jalique Rosemond, and the protest that the NAACP, an organization he led, held in response to the absence of a response by the university. He said that he plans to speak with KSU President Kathy Schwaig about that issue and to work on possible policies and protocols for the university to implement regarding hate-motivated speech and violence.
As far as what led him to run, he credits Vice Dean of Student Activities, Ronald Briggs for encouraging him to run, quoting Dean Briggs when he says that Brewer is “always everywhere, always working”. He did mention that people he knew encouraging him to run contributed to his decision as well.
Later that evening, Brewer and his vice president Anthony Harrison were sworn in. As the current administration passed the proverbial torch to the new administration, SGA President Zae Brewer’s first act was nominating and swearing in his new executive board.
