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Driven by a call to give back to the community, SGA Vice President-elect Ben Childress is dedicated to creating change at UK.

“You’ve got to love people, and love the people you’re leading,” Childress said about the qualities of being a leader. “If your heart’s not in it, and if your heart’s not in the right place, I think it’s going to show, and I think it will be ineffective.”

The sophomore economics and political science major did not plan on joining the student government, but older friends pushed him to run for Freshman Senate.

Despite the stress of managing a campaign team, involvement in DanceBlue and other activities, Childress stays grounded. A self-described people person, Childress is also an idealist.

“You want to be pragmatic and grounded, but, if you’re not idealistic, how are you going to push froward or innovate?” Childress said. “So you have these grand plans, just this awesome vision of how you want things to go, and sometimes you can be doing really awesome work, but it still feels like your failing because you’re not reaching the stars — maybe the clouds.”

As a freshman senator, Childress heard complaints from students about the meal swipe system and began a survey and discussion with administrators, which eventually resulted in a visible change to UK’s meal plan system.

“My goal with student government, and my goal with everything, is to try and help people pursue this common good,” Childress said. “That’s what gets me out of bed. That’s what keeps me going.”

For every goal that Childress and President-elect Rowan Reid have, one of the main goals is to change the student government’s culture ­— to break down some of the barriers that have hindered students from coming to SGA with their concerns and complaints about the university.

“Students don’t really think (student government is) really for them,” Childress said.

According to Childress, the success of student government is dependent on having an open conversation with all of campus.

“The only reason we’re doing this is because we want to help out,” Childress said. “So please, … if there’s anything, just reach out.”