Laurel grad serves as WVU student body vice president
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Beth Belch spends her days fighting for the issue of child are, writing grants for road improvements and even makes time to further her knowledge of the Spanish culture. This doesn’t sound like the life of the average college student, but then again, Belch isn’t your average college student.
The 2003 Laurel Highlands High School graduate now represents more than 27,000 students as the West Virginia University student body vice president.
Belch, 21, is in her final semester toward completing a degree in international studies. She also has double minors in political science and Spanish.
A Uniontown native, she is the daughter of Jim Belch, a local businessman, and Judy Belch, an employee at the office of the state Welfare Department in Uniontown.
The majority of her days are spent in the student organization’s office where, proudly tacked on the wall, is the student government association motto: “Together we will.”
As student body vice president, she sits on the executive branch of the Student Government Association with 15 other students, including her boyfriend and the student body president, Jason Gross.
The pair began dating halfway through their terms in office and initially fell under some scrutiny by certain members of the student body for dating. An editorial ran in the school newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum, about the pair’s romantic relationship.
Belch wasn’t fazed by the media attention.
“Some advice for SGA officials on behalf of The Daily Athenaeum’s staff: The students of WVU would very much appreciate a display of more discretion and professionalism. When you rely on the faith of your community members, there is very little room for error,” wrote a columnist at the paper.
Gross contends that if anything, dating has made the pair work harder at student government. He said that one of the best qualities about Belch is that she always keeps the best interests of her fellow students in mind. She isn’t intimidated when working with administrators in fighting for issues of concern to students, said Gross.
“She tells them what she feels, not what they want to hear,” said Gross.
A number of the administrators that Belch works with are part of the search committee to replace the current university president, David Hardesty. Belch and only one other student, Meg Bulger, are part of the committee.
“It’s a real honor to be among the people on the search committee,” said Belch.
Belch said that she wants to make sure that the new president is going to be student-centered, because although she has often worked closely with president Hardesty, most of the student body doesn’t know him personally. Although Hardesty had many successes during his presidency, he could have been more open and accessible to students, said Belch, adding that Hardesty probably wouldn’t appreciate her candor.
Belch said that she also wants to make sure the new president is going to be able to raise money for the university and wants to find out how candidates are planning to use student fees.
“There have been a few (candidates) that are outstanding, and a few that aren’t so outstanding,” said Belch.
The final decision for the new president won’t be made until April, according to the official presidential search Web site.
Her time in office will be up in a few weeks with the upcoming student government elections, but she said one of her biggest successes lies in the competitive nature of the recent elections. She said she believes she has worked hard during her term as vice president to promote the idea that students should get involved with student government.
When she and Gross ran, they didn’t have any competition. Currently, there are “two really great tickets running,” said Belch.
When her term is over, Belch’s days will likely slow down considerably. Her weekdays now often begin at 8 a.m. They often begin with meetings with different campus administrators. Her days also are filled with taking classes in Spanish culture, terrorism, math, law, and political science, and sitting through any number of committee meetings.
Sometime within her day, she has to make time to eat what is often breakfast and lunch in one. Many of her days last more than 12 hours. Sometimes she isn’t done with everything until 8:30 p.m. or later, leaving her with enough time to get home to watch “American Idol” on television.
The schedule is less hectic than the beginning of her administration as vice president, though. In the beginning, she often worked until 1 or 2 a.m., but she said that she eventually started leaving at a “normal” time. This also is the only semester that she has cut back her course load from 18 credits to 15 credits.
One of her main concerns as vice president has been getting a child-care facility on campus for student parents. She has been passionate about this issue and in her fight she is representing a group that doesn’t usually have a large voice, said Gross.
She and Gross approached administrators with the idea of creating a subsidized child-day care program on campus. They hired a consulting firm to assess the need for child-care at WVU and held focus groups to determine the cost and funding.
WVU currently offers no child-care for students, but other colleges have programs in place. This is an issue that student government has been trying to tackle for years and was once an issue that nobody listened to, according to Belch.
“Beth and I think that there definitely is a need,” said Gross.
The road to getting a child-care facility for students on campus still is a long one and will undoubtedly continue after Gross’ and Belch’s terms are up. They hope that their work will help shed light on the need for a child-care facility and that the university will recognize the issue when planning for the future.
In addition to marking the end of her term as vice president, the coming months also will conclude her status as an undergrad. She doesn’t have every step of her future mapped out, but for now, leaving WVU isn’t an option.
“I wouldn’t mind eventually being back in administration,” she said. “I’d like to do it with a law degree as well.”
She plans on staying at WVU with hope of attending law school, focusing on international law or enrolling in WVU’s public administration master’s program.
“I love WVU so much. I just can’t leave,” said Belch.
Angela Moscaritolo is a journalism student at West Virginia University.