The desire to give back drives Mason Mosier in most everything he does – from academics to public service.
The Student Government Association President for 2021-22 is a junior University Honors Scholar from nearby Piney Flats, with a double major in political science and media and communication.
“I’ve really been blessed,” Mosier said. “My mother was a single mother for a number of years until my stepfather, who became my father, came into our lives, and there were a lot of things that we had to overcome. She showed me that through hard work and perseverance, you can do anything. I just kind of try to do good at school. My mother taught me this at a young age. And my father also encouraged doing well in school and provided opportunities I otherwise might not have had.”
Although he always loved to read, go out with his friends, watch “Scooby-Doo” and do other fun activities as a kid, Mosier says he was always interested in public service, and was encouraged by his grandfather who talked with him about politics. That combination of academics, service and politics was foremost in his mind when it came time to apply to colleges.
“I wanted to go somewhere that I thought was ‘super-prestigious’ or something like that,” he recalled. “And I actually got an offer from Ashbrook Honors College, which is a political science-based college that has a lot of different national leaders come to speak and mentor the next generation of public servants. But, this all changed when I applied for the Roan Scholarship at ETSU when my high school nominated me.”
While he was not selected as a Roan Scholar, Mosier became a University Honors Scholar and says applying to ETSU was the best decision he ever made.
“I thought I had to go out of state to have that college experience, but I haven’t really been back to Piney Flats much,” he said. “I stay on this campus and am here all the time in Johnson City because I love it.
“I know this sounds cliché, but it’s true – it’s family. The Buccaneer experience is such that you can go visit President Noland. You can go visit the faculty and the staff and the students and they’ll want to meet with you. They will want to do things with you. And Johnson City – wanting to go out in the community, having that sense of regionalism, having that sense of family – is unlike any other place of higher learning that I’ve seen, and that’s what I love about it. There is nothing better than that. And even through divisive times, we are going to come together and we are going to get through it.”
Eager to become involved in campus life as a freshman, Mosier heeded the advice of an advisor to look into SGA. He first became a junior senator, then a senator the second semester of his freshman year, and eventually speaker pro tempore his sophomore year.
“I decided that it was time, in my junior year, to at least try to give back, and for me, giving back was to run for president,” he said.
Mosier is passionate about sharing SGA with his fellow students, and has been spotted frequently around campus during Preview and the Weeks of Welcome telling new students all about SGA.
“The SGA is literally the governing body of students that directly advises campus administrators, faculty and staff on what the students want to see and how we can go forward in that direction. So really, everything that you want to be able to accomplish, if you see a need, the SGA can pass a resolution to carry it forward.”
He cites the creation of Bucky’s Food Pantry, the renovation of the D.P. Culp Student Center, and the revival of football at ETSU and construction of Greene Stadium as some of the initiatives in which the SGA has been instrumental in recent years.
Mosier says that although ETSU just went through one of the hardest years it’s ever had, he hopes the SGA’s work this year will foster unity and give students a greater voice in the shared governance of the university. One of the biggest ways he says the SGA will accomplish this is the new Collaboration Initiative, through which student organizations, and individual students, can be a direct advisory board to the Student Government Association, sponsoring bills that the governing body will then work to pass. Technological improvements like Wi-Fi boosters, encouraging multiculturalism and unity through student organization partnerships, and hosting the first-ever SGA Major Concert in Greene Stadium are also goals for this year.
In addition to SGA, Mosier was recently inducted as a member of the Order of Omega Honor Society and has served in various offices in Sigma Chi Fraternity, including tribune, chaplain and community service chair. He credits his fraternity involvement with helping him develop the skills needed to be a student leader.
“The leadership skills that I’ve attained, the way I’ve come to understand the student body, the community service outreach that I’ve been able to do – being in a fraternity has changed my life,” he said. “Working together in a group – working to show the community that making our region a better place is what we care about – is what’s given me the experience to be able to be the student body president now.
“Through a church organization, we got to feed people on Thanksgiving and Christmas who for the first time had something on those holidays to eat. I was blessed, as a strong believer in faith, to be able to go out and do those acts of service and to hear from leaders of the community what we could do to better serve others. To actually make some change and do good things in the community was everything to me.”
Before he graduates in 2023, Mosier is interested in getting involved with the East Tennessean student newspaper and POLO, the Preview and Orientation Leaders Organization. And while he does not know specifically what the future holds following graduation, he knows he wants to help improve the lives of the people of the state and region, giving back in a positive way through public service.
While serving as an assistant to a former Tennessee state representative, as well as consulting various candidates, Mosier had the opportunity to talk with people from all walks of life across the state and learn more about their needs.
“These are people who, despite partisan differences, despite anything they face, just want a better world, a better America, and to live and to collaborate and work and engage with one another,” Mosier said. “So, after these experiences, I realized we’re not so different if we just sit down and talk to one another. What these people need, more than anything, despite affiliation, is for someone to cut through the bureaucracy, represent them, and fight for their individual needs. That direct representative democracy is what America is all about. Any way I can fit into this equation of helping people, I would love to do it.”