For Susan Webster, going to UF is a family tradition.
The fourth-generation Gator is now running for Student Body president with Impact Party because she wants to represent students across the university.
“I’ve loved this campus since I was a little kid,” the 22-year-old international studies senior said. “It’s been a place where I’ve always been proud to be a Gator, but I’ve never been more proud than the moment I stepped on this campus, holding my backpack in hand and I was a student.”
As a freshman, she joined Alpha Delta Pi, the same sorority as her mom. She also joined Senate as a replacement senator for a freshman seat during her Fall semester. She later joined the Budget and Appropriations Committee, as well as the Judiciary Committee, and became immersed in Student Government culture.
“Truly, I don’t apply for something on a whim,” Webster said. “I make sure it’s something I want to do and I could do a good job at it.”
During her sophomore year in 2014, she served as chairwoman of the Rules and Procedures Committee and director of lobbying and state affairs for SG’s external affairs.
Her junior year, she ran with Swamp Party during the Spring 2015 elections, where she lost her seat to Access Party senators. The loss was a setback.
“It wasn’t easy coming back in,” she said. She lost her position as chairwoman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, but she continued getting student organizations on the budget cycle to make sure they were ready for hearings.
However, it wasn’t the end of Webster’s time in Senate. She said her friends convinced her she needed to represent students. After getting the replacement senator position for District A in the Spring, Webster said she watched as a new party formed — one that she said was looking to stop the conflict in Senate: Impact Party.
“I thought that mission was great, something I’ve always stood for, so I hopped on board at the beginning with the Impact Party,” she said. She was then voted in as Senate president by majority vote Oct. 7.
Clay Hurdle, 21, met Webster last Fall in a class for the J. Wayne Reitz Scholars Program. He said the first time they met, she gave him a huge smile and hug. When he found out she was running, the UF agricultural education and communication and Spanish senior said he was sold by her passion.
“I’m really excited, quite honestly,” Hurdle said. “I think the world of her. I know that once she’s elected, she’s going to do what’s necessary to achieve the goals of positively affecting the Student Body and the University of Florida as a whole.”
As Senate president, Webster started the Mental Health Awareness Committee and the Diversity Outreach Committee. Webster said she’s running for Student Body president because she feels she can make change possible for students.
“Being a Student Body president, it’s so much more than yourself,” she said. “You are the student voice, and I’ve done so many things to help move our university forward. I can advocate well for students because this isn’t my first time doing it.”
Susan Webster is a 22-year-old UF international studies senior running for Student Body president with Impact Party.
Webster currently serves as UF Student Senate president and a District A senator. She served as chairwoman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and Rules and Procedures Ad Hoc Committee. She started the Diversity Outreach and Mental Health Awareness Ad Hoc Committees. She also helped open the Field and Fork Food Pantry.
Webster said she hopes to make changes to help serve students and make UF a top-10 institution.
“I know that I will be able to fight for you not only on the university level, but in Tallahassee and in (Washington) D.C.,” she said.
