Q&A with Best SGB Member Everett Green

You may have passed by Everett Green walking through Sennott Square, known him as a prominent member of Pitt’s Greek life or just recognized him as a familiar face on an Oakland street.

But as this year’s Best Of poll tells us, many students know him best for the work he’s done as a part of Pitt’s Student Government Board.

Green, a senior finance major, was a Board member for one semester in spring 2015, then became executive vice president for fall 2015 and spring 2016. While acting as vice president, Green was responsible for ensuring the new assembly, a lower governing body of SGB that includes many student groups, ran smoothly and fostered communication between student groups and the Board. He also worked on implementing the battery packs and portable outlets available for checkout at Hillman Library and helped support the city’s creation of a rental registry for Pittsburgh landlords.

Green made such an impact that, even after his SGB career has come to an end, he was voted Best SGB Member in The Pitt News Best Of poll this year — a title he is still proud to claim.

Columnist Jaime Viens sat down with Green to discuss how he feels about the award, his experience with SGB and his life outside the class and boardroom.

Jaime Viens: What do you think winning this title of Best SGB Member says about you and/or SGB, considering you’re not on the Board anymore?

Everett Green: So I was on SGB for a while, and when I was there, I honestly just did my best to be kind of just another student. I just felt like I was almost everybody’s friend. I was there to help out, but I was also there to give them a realistic approach on what we were able to do. I think that winning Best SGB Member is pretty cool. I wasn’t there for a while and I honestly do miss it a little bit, so when you texted me saying I won, I was like, ‘Wow, I must have done something right to be able to win this award,’ so I’m pretty happy about it.

JV: What inspired you to join SGB?

EG: I think what inspired me was the fact that it was kind of different in terms of what I was doing. I was over in the business school, I was just kind of in my circles. I was in Greek life, or I was in the Roberto Clemente [MBA] Association, and I was just doing that, but when I saw the opportunity to run, I realized that I could kind of go out there and be a driving force for students behind me.

When I came in, I didn’t think that I necessarily fit the mold of your typical SGB member. I was definitely always thinking outside the box. I wouldn’t necessarily agree with everyone because I brought in such a different viewpoint, and I think that’s totally necessary. So people that may think like me in these different circles or do the kinds of things that I do, can also come up and have that backing of the student body behind them when and if they choose to run for student government.

JV: Why did you leave SGB?

EG: I chose to leave because I felt as though I had done as much as I could have in my three semesters there, and I felt satisfied with the job that I did. I was happy, I enjoyed my time, I was able to complete as many of my initiatives as I could and I thought that it was time.

I like seeing people come behind me, I thought it was time to see kids come behind me. As a senior, I like to play a mentorship role because that’s what people did for me when I was a freshman just being in the business school or when I was a sophomore running for student government, and I didn’t want to finish out my time here not being able to help someone younger than me. I think that’s something that SGB definitely can get better at too, kind of knowing when it’s time to help someone else do the job, which I think is like the coolest thing ever. I usually feel a lot better when my mentee accomplishes things that maybe I wasn’t able to do. Because that’s how I think the organization is able to progress and get even better.

JV: What’s your favorite thing you had the opportunity to do while on SGB?

EG: One of the examples of what I got to do was meet with a lot of administrators. When you’re just a student, you usually just think students versus administrators or whatever, but when you actually get to talk to some of those people and hear about their life stories and maybe hear some of the reasons behind why they do things on campus, I think it’s really valuable because that’s how you really open up discussions.

It’s tough being an SGB member and seeing certain administrators being called out by certain groups because I’m standing there thinking about how I understand exactly why these individuals aren’t happy because I’m a student too, but the other side is that I also understand why they’re doing this. Being able to find that balance and understand the reasons why people do things or people say things and maybe why people act a certain way, I think, was one of my favorite things because I was able to grow as a person.

But, in terms of SGB, I had too much fun honestly — I was always laughing, always having a good time. I think that my favorite thing was probably just campaigning. When I first started, that was such a roller coaster and I met so many cool people that I wouldn’t have otherwise. These are the same people that I see on the streets, I’ll see at the bars, I’ll see in Hillman or Cathy and just be like, “Hey, what’s going on? I remember talking to you.” That was my favorite part of SGB, just getting to meet so many cool people.

JV: What have you been doing since you left?

EG: Since I left, I’m down to a minimum amount of credits right now, so my school work isn’t what’s taking up most of my time. I’ve joined the undergraduate case competition team with a few of my friends — it’s four of us, and we’re all finance majors — and we basically go on case competitions, and I’ve done four so far this year.

And then, besides that, I’m just hanging out with my friends down in South Oakland. Kind of decompressing from that fast three years that happened, and I’m trying to serve in [a] mentor role. I love when people give me phone calls and just ask me questions. Just last night, one of my mentees called me and was a little bit nervous because she wasn’t sure what was going on with her internship offer, so we just talked for a half hour and gave her just a little bit of advice. I saw her again today, gave her a big hug and she’s doing well. It’s those moments that I remember and confirm why I love being a senior just trying to help younger students.