Jahare Hudson was elected the 2022-2023 Undergraduate Student Association (USA) president during his sophomore year, a rare occurrence. Since his election, Hudson has aimed to be a vocal advocate for all students on the Canisius campus.
Hudson was originally not going to run for USA president, saying “Last year wasn't the best moment for USA, and I first said I wasn't going to run at all. What a time that was. And then I really sat back and I realized that it wouldn't be fair of me to allow USA to continue the way it was, that it needed someone to break its foundation and start from scratch, rebuild it on something different, other than positions and titles.”
Since he began his duties as president, Hudson has achieved many of his initial goals including changing the culture of the association. He said he wanted to rebuild USA on the foundation of loving one another.
Hudson is the first USA president to have never served as a senator in a previous year. He is only the third black president and is proud to announce that he has just joined the NAACP. Hudson was also recently inducted into the DiGamma Honor Society and is a member of the Urban Leadership Learning Community (ULLC) scholarship program. He said his peers in ULLC are a great support system for him.
Hudson has a large list of ideas he plans to accomplish during his tenure as president. His main goal is to establish a women’s health center. He immediately began work on this center after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court. “There's a need that must be met with our women students that go back to their states. And so to provide them another home here was something that I thought was very important,” Hudson said.
Hudson is also working with Unity to bring a drag show to campus, something that has been struck down multiple times in the past. Hudson said, “I've been pushing along with Unity for the drag show. It was something that I recognized that Unity has been pushing for years. And that wasn't fair of us as their representative body to allow that to continue. So I've been pushing that needle in the right direction since September.”
It hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows for Hudson. He said he often forgets to take care of his own health and that is something he is actively trying to correct. “What I've been struggling with is prioritizing myself. And I think that comes from a standpoint of ‘I can't care for all of you.’” Hudson said, “If I'm not caring for myself in return, I can't give what I don't have. And so the biggest struggle is taking time for myself to breathe so that I can support you guys in whatever way possible.”
Hudson came into the role with clear goals and has already made movements to accomplish those goals. With the turnover of both the president of the college and the vice president of student affairs, changes on the campus have been frequent, however, it is clear that there is a common goal in bettering Canisius as a whole.