Damien Simmons, a junior criminal justice, corrections and sociology major, and the new SGA president, recalls how he got into SGA.
As a freshman in lion camp, he told himself he would be more social and be more involved socially. The freshman class had been pulled into the SSC to be asked about how their lion camp experience was. He asked all the questions he had on his mind and got pulled to the front. The ambassador who was running lion camp told the class that Simmons would be their freshman class president.
Simmons decided to run for the position and he got it without opposition. He says that’s how he got his first try at leadership and he “saw some of the things that were going on.” This was also how he met his mentor and the 2023-24 SGA president, Nathaniel Edwards
Simmons is from Del City and decided to go to Langston because his family has a history of going to Langston. He says he was considering going out of state but wanted to stay close in case anything happened at home.
Recently, Simmons wrote legislation to help keep academic and organization advisers accountable and another piece in OSGA to help mitigate the lack of DEI in schools around the state. He also went to the state capitol and advocated for the school when the state legislature wanted to allow some of Langston’s specialized programs to be offered by other, bigger schools.
Simmons hopes to make some changes within SGA, such as allowing younger students to join and encouraging them to make their voices heard. He also wants to make trips to the capitol of Oklahoma more common. He says that he wants to encourage students to be, “civically engaged”.
Damien says his most ambitious plan is what he calls the “Langston Development Project.” He wants the city of Langston to prosper and to further connect the city and the university. He hopes to convince alumni to invest into the community with businesses, houses and apartments. Places for food are especially important since Langston has very few food options when the cafe is closed.
He also wants the students to help in monthly community service projects around the town on Wednesdays. These projects would help create a good relationship between the town of Langston and the university. He hopes that getting the ball rolling would lead to the town being able to have schools, community centers, and, “a library that isn’t just a school library.”
“Black towns in the state of Oklahoma are generally older,” he says. “People don’t invest in them as much.” He believes that when the town is able to prosper, like other Oklahoma college towns like Norman or Stillwater, Langston would be able to carve out its own place as one of the best Oklahoma has to offer.
Currently Simmons is helping students get registered for the upcoming Oklahoma primaries on June 16th and for state questions such as state question 832, which will decide whether Oklahoma will raise its minimum wage from the federal standard of $7.25 up to $15 dollars and hour. He says that students should be more involved in local politics and voting in local elections. You can register on the Oklahoma voter portal and check for the next election on balletopedia.
Jeremy Arballo
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND STAFF REPORTER
Jeremy Arballo is a sophomore broadcast journalism student from Guthrie, Oklahoma. He enjoys writing feature stories and taking photos. He finds that everyone has a compelling story and he likes to share these stories with others, along with his photos. He believes that photos say more than 1,000 words can and that they show the beauty of life. Outside of school, Jeremy enjoys playing retro and new video games, taking photos, and collecting cds. Jeremy can be reached at jearbal@langston.edu and he posts his photos on his Instagram @jeremyarballo1.
