After the first round of Student Government Association elections last week, eight senatorial seats were left open that were put up again for elections on Tuesday, Sept. 17.
The Visual Arts senator was the only seat open for the academic senators.
Seven seats were open for the community senators, representing first-year students, third-year students, fourth-year and fifth-year students, LGBTQIA+ students, student diversity and inclusion, international students and student workers.
No one ran for the third-year students senator and student worker advocate senator.
- Junior fine arts major Ana Lara was elected as the Visual Arts senator
- First-year musical theater major Danielle Lang was elected as the first-year senator
- Senior creative writing major Paige Johnson was elected as the fourth-year and fifth-year senator
- First-year musical theater major Charlie Rush-Reese was elected as the LGBTQIA+ senator
- Junior arts management major Feihong Guo was elected as the international student senator
- Junior graphic design major Trinity Sutton was elected as the student diversity and inclusion senator
All SGA senators will begin training next week and start preparing for the town halls that will be held throughout the semester.
“In the fall, we host town halls and gather information in different ways in order to host initiatives in the spring which help create change on campus,” SGA President Jenna Davis said.
Davis said that the organization of these town halls depends on what the senator wants to do, what the community likes, and what’s best for the community.
“In previous years, each specific senator will have its own town hall, and it can look different for everyone,” she said. “Either it’s an event where they’re just like, casually talking about it, or if it’s hosted by the senator, and, let’s say, the director of the department, or it’s just like a form that would get sent out.”
In previous years, there were 15 department senators, but due to the college’s restructuring, this number was reduced to represent the eight new schools.
Danielle Lang, the new first-year senator, ran for the position hoping to be someone students from her community can trust and go to for information they need.
“As a first-year student, I feel like I’m one of the ones who seek out information and make sure I have all the information of all the clubs and other activities and stuff I can do,” she said. “But not everybody is okay with going and seeking that information out themselves.”
Lang’s main goal is to continue making sure that everybody is included within her community.
“Being at the school already for these first few weeks, I’ve realized that I only ever see people that are in my major or near my major, and I haven’t been able to find other people in other majors,” she said. “That’s really upsetting to me, because I do want to get to know all these different people, especially since there’s a bunch of majors where all of our stuff interlocks.”
If a student cannot commit to a senatorial position yet, they can still join the SGA as a student representative or attend the Student Affairs Committee meetings starting in October.
I’Ja Wright, the student representative to the Board of Trustees, will lead these meetings which will discuss more specific campus topics, such as healthcare access, improving support for students with disabilities, and connecting alumni with students.
“Each of these initiatives is designed to address critical needs within the student community, ensuring inclusivity, equity, and access to essential resources,” she said.
Wright advocates for the student body by directly communicating their interests, concerns, and experiences to the board.
“A lot of people don’t get that chance to be in that room, especially staff and faculty, never get to meet the Board of Trustees at the college,” she said during last week’s election. “So I will be that connection between the students and the Board of Trustees and be in the middle to not only advocate for them but be able to get that information out to them in a way that they can receive it.”
The seats for the third-year senator and the student worker advocate senator will remain open unless a student expresses interest in running for either of the positions this week.
The SGA will then be able to hold a short election before they start their next meeting. If a student decides to run for the remaining seats after this week, they can reach out to SGA Executive Vice President Amelia Lutz.
Copy edited by Manuel Nocera
