Student Government Association conducts Senate elections, final committee assignments
Student Government Association Vice President Ryan Biller (far right) swears in the newest SGA Senators: Hanh Lee, Ava Darbyshire, Katie Sunday, Raevyn Sunfyr and Madison Gott (from left to right) on Oct. 9, 2023.
Central Michigan University’s Student Government Association (SGA) meeting took place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 in the Bovee University Center Auditorium.
The main purpose of the meeting was for emergency Senator elections, though additional highlights included discussion about the Alternative Breaks program, House and Senate meetings and decisions on committees' future commitments.
Additional Senator Elections
SGA Vice President Ryan Biller gave the opportunity for additional senator nominations, in which five candidates were nominated and given two minutes to speak and two questions from the audience to answer.
Candidates included: Raevyn Sunfyr, Hanh Lee, Ava Darbyshire, Katey Sunday and Madison Gott.
These five candidates were sworn into the Cabinet and joined the Senate, which consists of the previously eight selected senators from the Oct. 2 meeting and the elected senators from the previous Spring semester.
Alternative Breaks Guest Speaker
Campbell Geary, a member of the Alternative Breaks advisory board discussed the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center and the Alternative Breaks program.
Geary has been on the board for two years now, and is also site leader for the program.
The main goal of the program is to encourage people to become “active citizens” in their community, actively participating in community service projects and non-profit organizations within their local community.
“Student Government is a room full of leaders,” Geary said. “We highly encourage you to go on a break this year.”
Announcements
The American Student Government Association (ASGA) recently returned from a conference held in Washington, DC and they plan to give a full report at the next meeting, Biller said.
Biller announced that RSOs require a GPA of 2.5 or higher and therefore needed to submit their GPAs to Chief of Staff.
He also said that there will not be a meeting next week due to the upcoming fall wellness break.
Senator Meeting
The senator meeting was held in Room 303 in the Bovee University center, and it was led by Senate Leader Christian Toney. Fourteen out of 16 senators were present for the meeting.
Senators were assigned to special committees, specifically the Strategic Planning Advisory Council Hardship Committee and the Membership Committee.
Some senators also presented their “senator projects,” which they work on throughout their term.
“It’s a project that benefits the campus in some way,” Toney said. “Big or small. It can be as long as you want, ongoing or one (project) per semester.”
Progress within the Diversity Committee
SGA members were able to decide want committee they wanted to permanently join at this meeting, and around 60 students decided to join the Diversity Committee on campus.
Attendance was taken by Lucía Domínguez, and those counted present were sworn into the committee.
Domínguez also discussed an event she wants to do for Native American Heritage Month. She then opened the floor for the audience to discuss other upsoming inclusion events they were hosting or participating in.
