Katelyn Hadder has a lot to be proud of.

A sophomore in special education with a concentration in education interpretation, she has served as senator for her college, a member of the SGA Administration Committee, a volunteer for the Emerald Youth Foundation, an active member of the Phi Mu sorority and a writer for The Daily Beacon. Also on her list of accomplishments is a “wobble” with Cordarrelle Patterson and her recent election as the new Student Services Director.

“I like to view myself as a figurehead,” Hadder said, adding that the main responsibility of the Director is to ensure all committees are functioning properly and working cohesively.

In Hadder’s opinion, the Student Services Director should be “someone [the committees] can rely on; a facilitator of communication between them and administration.”

Hadder became involved in SGA during her freshman year, after the 2012-2013 Senate Chair, Christian Powers, took her under his wing and helped her become a senator for her college, making important connections within the University.

Dante Arnwine, junior in political science, worked with Hadder on last year’s SGA campaign, Engage, and said he quickly noticed her passion for SGA and student affairs.

“Her personality will shine as Student Services Director,” Arnwine said. “The Student Services Director works with everything on campus, from diversity issues to academic affairs—they are just all across the university and she has a lot of interest in that.”

Hadder was the youngest candidate on the ballot this year, causing many to question her ability to take on the role. Arnwine, however, said he feels her fresh perspective on SGA will work to Hadder’s advantage.

“People can harp on the word experience,” Arnwine said. “Katelyn will keep her mind open to new ideas, and that’s what SGA needs, open-mindedness. . . Katelyn will do very well.”

Hadder was the only executive candidate of the We Are UT campaign to be elected. Despite the losses of her running mates, she said looks forward to working with the Keny-Dugosh team and feels comforted knowing they were a team chosen by the student body.

“One thing that we all three have in common is we care about what we do while we are in office,” Hadder said. “As much as I love who I ran with in my campaign, at the end of the day I do feel like this is what the student body wanted and this is how it was supposed to be and what will be best for the student body.

“I think it all worked out exactly the way it was supposed to.”

With eyes on her future, Hadder said she plans to apply for early admission with Teach for America next year. She hopes to come back to school and earn a master’s degree in deaf education so she can teach American Sign Language classes or work in a school for the deaf. Ultimately, Hadder said she would like to get her Ph.D. and go into research and freelance interpreting.

She became interested in deaf education after participating in an eight-week internship in an inclusion classroom and hearing Michelle Shearer, a deaf instructor, speak in an Future Educator’s of America conference during Hadder’s senior year of high school.

“The way that she talked about how she had to emphasize all the other senses except hearing to be able to incorporate these lessons and be able to teach these kids something was just so cool,” Hadder said. “The coolest part is that people don’t think the deaf community is its own culture and its own community.

“You think it’s just that they’re deaf and they can’t hear, but there is so much more to it than that.”

For her first order of business in her executive role, Hadder plans to meet with every committee director to evaluate their committee “extensively.” She confirmed she will be adding a new committee and reviving an old committee that “fell to the waste land” last year.

“We’ll be looking out for that,” Hadder said. “I’m not going to give anything away yet. . . I just want to do more of what Grant (Davis) did. Everything Grant did was great and I want to continue that.”

Hadder said she wants to plan more events that promote student involvement, particularly first-year students, including a bonfire in the spring. She said she envisions student excitement in Thompson-Boling Arena and Lindsey Nelson Stadium that rivals a Saturday in Neyland.

She also expressed a desire to encourage more involvement in academic affairs and create programs for freshmen students, such as resume workshops and seminars.

As she begins her term as Student Services Director, Hadder said one of her highest goals is to keep SGA relevant and helpful for the student body.

“The student fees issue really allowed people in government affairs to step up their game and see how much power they really did have,” Hadder said. “I want to keep that momentum.”