While attending Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Lucas Williams became involved with the Student Government Association – an endeavor he wanted to keep going when he arrived to the University of Southern Mississippi last fall.
After working with several other student groups at Southern Miss – and hearing that certain students didn’t feel they had a voice in university matters – Williams took that concept one step further, being elected earlier this month as president of the SGA at USM.
“I knew with that position, it would grant me access to make some of these changes of what I hear people say, and take those changes and run with them,” said Williams, a senior public relations and advertising major from Picayune. “I knew I could build an official team to take all that information that they say, and disperse it to all the right resources.
“It feels great, and I’m still in shock and awe a little bit. I’m still walking around with a huge smile on my face, like it’s the first day I heard I had won. I’m super excited for the work that we’re going to do.”
As SGA president, Williams is responsible for bi-weekly meetings with the administration and the Office of Student Affairs to get feedback on university matters. He also will serve on the Senior Leadership Team with USM president Rodney Bennett to confer about student body issues and updates on the university side.
“Also, I’ll meet with different departments throughout the university that want to get the perspective of the student body,” Williams said. “It’s just getting that opportunity to be the representative for the students, and it’s a lot of contacts with lots of different offices throughout the campus.”
In his new role, Williams wants to first and foremost reconnect the student body, especially after the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic has taken so much away from us, and we’re getting such a great opportunity this fall to return to more normal procedures,” he said. “A lot of people have felt the disconnect in so many areas, and I feel like by serving in this role I can get some resources to make sure that everybody feels connected once again.”
Ironically, Williams was initially disqualified from running in the election because of an interpretation of his qualifications serving at another SGA. But after several appeal processes, he was able to get back in – and win – the race.
“Their constitution at Southern Miss was a little vague, and it was set for interpretation that I needed to have the semester of experience at Southern Miss, rather than from somewhere else,” Williams said. “Some people felt like the experience needed to come from (Southern Miss), so I appealed it, and they looked into it and saw that it was just an interpretation thing.
“It’s one more reason why I’m thankful for the opportunity, because I went through so many struggles campaigning for this. Being able to do that is what has so much value to me, holding this position, is continually going through the processes and doing what was right, and wanting to serve our student body no matter what challenges I faced.”
Williams’ love for Southern Miss comes primarily because the school has allowed him to build relationships with a number of different people.
“I think that’s where my love stems from, is the community and the inclusive environment we have on this campus,” he said. “We have so many different faces from so many different walks of life, but we’re also connected, and I think that’s what makes this university and this community so special.
“To me, it’s really like I’m at home – I never really left home, it’s just a bigger one, with all these new people. You don’t just wander from one end of the campus to the other without being able to see a familiar face.”
Williams, who graduated from Picayune Memorial High School, also is involved with the Greek community at Southern Miss, and worked on Eaglethon. After graduating from USM, he plans to get his master’s degree and pursue something in the communications field.
Williams said his passion for that field didn’t start until he came to Southern Miss and took classes under Dave Davies.
“I took one of his Intro to Social Media courses, and my mind was so set up coming to Southern Miss that I just wanted to do graphic design,” he said. “It was something I did freelance for a while, and I just enjoyed it.
“I don’t know how I got into the class, but I’m glad I did. I took his course, and I really learned about the PR side of things, and that’s when I realized that this is really what I want to do. Being so creative and getting to interact with people, I think it all stems from me being a people person, and this is another way for me to connect with people on a creative level.”
