Student leaders go head-to-head

Last night at the Taylor Center, a trivia night was held between the student government and student affairs. Consisting of five rounds ranging from pop culture to math riddles, attendees worked together to answer questions and win the trophy. 

Todd Pfingsten, the director of campus recreation, and Ben Nelson, the program coordinator, sat down to discuss the event.

“Predating this event, we thought about the ones we’ve done before, where it was kickball, or it was softball, or bowling, those were all physical events and activities. We decided to add this as a different type of event that counteracts those physical competitions with more of a mental one, just to mix it up a little bit to have a little bit of difference, because competition comes in many forms, it doesn’t always have to be a physical activity,” Pfingsten said.

“That’s exactly right. Not every senator, not every staff member that participates is involved in sports,” Nelson added.

Events between the student government and student affairs have been going on for about seven to eight years; there are usually two to four events per year. Sometimes the event involves a sport or, in this case, the event will require you to bring your wits.

“It’s easy to have some of your interactions be mostly business related, and there’s a lot lost, sometimes,” Pfingsten said. ”There are two different ends of communication that may collide, and when you have events like this, it’s a lot easier to see the professional outside of their normal environment, students outside of their normal senator roles as well. It really does help with relationships.  People tend to take things less personally when you know the person across the table. You know they’re coming from a good place rather than if you’re dug in on each side of what you’re arguing about for or against something.”

“I attend most senate meetings, most student government meetings, and it’s more professional, formal, Robert’s rules, those types of things. So, getting to know the student body president, vice president, some of the senators, outside of that room, outside of that meeting, is real important because you’re trying to develop a relationship when a student can just stop by the office and say ‘Hey, I want to talk to you about something.’ It may be related to student government, it may not be, but we’re developing relationships and I think getting to know people more on a personal level that you can just walk down the hallway and say ‘Hi’ and have a quick chat and not be student government related.”

The next event between student government and student affairs will be on April 10th, keep your eyes peeled for any future updates.

Write to Ellie Meschke at eleanor.meschke@mnsu.edu

Header Photo: Student Government and Student Affairs played in a trivia battle Wednesday. (Alexis Darkow/The Reporter)