Most people see the hair first. It’s understandable, given the fact that Joshua Bloodworth ’15 (M.P.A.) sports a three-inch-tall Mohawk. But there’s a lot more to the graduate student than his stiff shock of neatly coiffed hair.
As president of the Graduate Student Association (GSA), Bloodworth represents about 800 graduate students at the Graduate School of the University of Charleston, S.C. Under his leadership, the group has sought to increase funding of grants and assistantships, secure more parking spaces for students, increase fundraising for the school and host social events meant to bolster graduate school spirit and raise money for charities.
And that’s just a fraction of Bloodworth’s workload as a graduate student. He’s held campus jobs in the Office of the Provost as well as the Office for Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning. He is president of the College’s Master of Public Administration Student Association, chairman of the Student Library Advisory Board and a member of the campus’ One In Four group, named after the statistic of college women who will survive rape or attempted rape in their lifetime.
“I like the idea of working with, and for, people,” says Bloodworth, a native of Cope, S.C. “While I may be the face of the GSA, as president, it’s important to note how involved graduate students are in their respective fields, at the university and in the Charleston community.”
As Bloodworth prepares for a more buttoned-up career in higher education or local government, he is savoring his last year in graduate school and what he suspects is his last chance to wear his Mohawk. And so he applies his hair paste every morning, stands the follicles up straight and tall, then gets to work finishing his degree and helping fellow graduate students achieve their goals, too.
After all, Bloodworth is the first to admit, you need more than a funky haircut if you really want to stand out.
Editor’s Note: After graduation in December, Bloodworth, who’s now an assessment and accreditation analyst for the College, trimmed his Mohawk.
