DeKALB – Ja’kobe Jones, a sophomore math education major, was recently elected as the Student Government Association president for the 2024-2025 academic year. Jones spoke to the Northern Star about his goals for the position.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME?

“So, I like reading strategy books. So, one of my favorite books is “The Art of War.” I feel like a lot of the tactics you can apply them to life in terms of knowing more about yourself, knowing more about people,” Jones said. “So, I like to read in-depth about things like that. I also do a lot of nonprofit work. I wouldn’t call myself a philanthropist, but I do help my community organizations and stuff like that.”

WHY DID YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF SGA?

“I want to be a part of the student government because I feel that I’m a pretty good leader, and I like building connections with other students. I like to fully understand what students are going through and truly understand struggles outside of my own,” Jones said. “Student government was the place for me to hear everyone’s voices and try to make those voices heard. So that’s the reason I wanted to run for student government.”

WHY DID YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT?

“I know it was, like, a really big jump to go straight to president, but I feel like in a position like that, I don’t shy away from big responsibilities,” Jones said. “I feel like going for president is more fit into my personality, because like I said, I feel like I’m a pretty good leader and I’m better at listening to people. So, I feel like going for president, I can make a lot of the changes that people want to see because of my relationship-building skills.”

WHAT DOES SGA MEAN TO YOU?

“SGA truly to me, like after learning more about it, it’s really the organization for everybody. We have so many orgs on campus,” Jones said. “However, those orgs can be specific to different cultural groups, different races and things like that, but I think Student Government truly stands for everybody. So that’s what it means to me. It’s like a pinnacle of hope for Northern Illinois, in my opinion.”

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHANGE YOU HOPE TO MAKE AS PRESIDENT?

“I would like to bridge the gap between everybody. I know it’s not really a divide, but it’s harder for people to communicate or build friends or build relationships with different people. The biggest thing I want to do is, first off, build a better community at Northern Illinois University,” Jones said. “The second thing is, I want to work on retention rates overall, not just for specific communities, but everybody. I think that Student Government, it’s our duty to make sure that our students stay in school, whether it’s an organization that keep people in school, whether it’s certain events. I think those are the two biggest things, bridging that gap between everyone and retention rates.”

WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU HOPE TO CONTINUE AS SGA PRESIDENT?

“Something I want to continue is the togetherness and organization as a whole. Even though I was new to Student Government, every single department was very nice to me, very open to some of the duties of the position and their positions as well,” Jones said. “So I think that I just want to continue the relationships that are already built, and I just want to expand outside of student government and to build relationships with students so that they can come to us and feel comfortable expressing how they feel.”

WHAT GOALS DO YOU HAVE FOR SGA AND NIU OVER THE NEXT YEAR?

“Some of the goals I have is, like I said, I want to work on student retention rates. So one of the things I want to focus on is student involvement,” Jones said. “So, one of the goals I hope I can implement is a Student Government Awareness Day where we teach students what student government is and how voting works before voting starts. I also want to expand into the dormitories so that it’s not just student-centered where students see what SGA is about, it’s also more of a campus thing. So like one or two days, where students maybe once a semester can learn about student government and if they’re interested, we have more information.”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING AT NIU?

“It’s probably changed over the years. My favorite thing about NIU my freshman year was Burritoville. I don’t know why. It was simple. I like food. I used to go to Burritoville with my friends, but I think my absolute favorite thing is probably my professors,” Jones said. “I feel like the professors truly make the class for me. So yeah, my favorite thing is to talk to teachers after class, learn more about them and learn about their families so that if I’m struggling in a class, I can talk to this person on a personal level instead of just student-to-teacher.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR ROLE AS SGA PRESIDENT ON CAMPUS?

“Personally, I feel like my role is to truly embody what the student government means and stands for. So I feel like everywhere I go, I have to let students know that ‘Hey, I am not just the president of this organization, I am a piece of this organization who is coming to you to service you,’” Jones said. “So I think my role is to teach students about SGA but also uphold my role as president and to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard.”

WHAT DOES THE SGA PRESIDENT ROLE LOOK LIKE ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS?

“For me, it’s a lot of meetings behind the scenes with different committees, but also, for day-to-day it will be being seen in the places where students are most active, which is the Student Center,” Jones said. “So just being present in the office, letting students know that the problems that they’re putting in or changes that they want to see, we’re actively doing it. I think just being seen is something that’s going to be big for the next year just letting students know that the student government is present.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE STUDENTS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU?

“I always say that I’m very approachable. I talk about anything, whether it’s sports, anime, magazines, just anything, even if I don’t know about it, I’ll try to learn about it,” Jones said. “Because if it’s interesting to you, it can be interesting to me. So if you see me around, just know you can wave. If you’re not the most talkative person, I won’t approach you but I will be able to have a conversation with you if you need me.”