SGA inaugurates new leadership
Red and yellow lights washed over the Student Government Association administrators, causing their maroon and pink outfits to glow along with their faces. Excited chatter bubbles in the audience before fizzling out as SGA President Tyler Zimmerman approached the sleek, black podium.
It was here that Zimmerman welcomed students to the 2024-25 Inauguration Ceremony for Central Michigan University's next SGA administration. Taking place at 7 p.m. on April 22 in the Staples Family Concert Hall, the outgoing Zimmerman administration took a moment to discuss the progress made that year and welcome in the next line of SGA administrators, the Hernandez-Ruiz administration.
Zimmerman spoke about the accomplishments his administration made during the 2023-24 academic year, such as:
- The creation of the judicial branch that will begin next academic year
- The passing of legislation such as two sustainability bills
- Their work on creating the freedom of expression statement and
- The creation of the new SGA website.
He also highlighted the various accomplishment of the SGA committees, such as their blood drives, totebag drives, civic workshops and funding registered student organizations.
"Because of your hard work this year, the state of the student body is strong," he said. "Together we had a great year, and I'm excited to see what the next SGA administration will do."
SGA Vice President Ryan Biller and Treasurer Natalie Brant expressed many of the same sentiments in their own speeches following Zimmerman's. Biller specially discussed how important the student voice is and how diversity, equity and inclusion needs to be not just a goal, but an essential component to the success of the CMU's community.
"While we have taken significant strides promoting diversity, equity and inclusion on campus, there are still barriers that exist for other students," he said. "We must continue to listen to the voice of marginalized communities, amplify their concerns and take action to address systematic inequalities."
Additionally, all 22 cabinet members received awards and acknowledgements for their service this year. Each of the six committees also recognized a "Committee Member of the Year," who showed prowess and dedication throughout the year. These members are as follows:
- Alexandra Ghannam for Student Budget Allocation Committee
- Heidi Dorenbecker for the Outreach and Engagement Committee
- Grace Jenkins for the Academic Affairs Committee
- Emma Hixson for the Governmental Affairs Committee
- Akua Acheampong for the Diversity Committee
- Brendan Jankowski for the Sustainability Committee
Biller also gave additional awards out to other SGA members during the ceremony, such as:
- Senator of the Year, to Christian Toney
- House Member of the Year, to Aliza Punches
- Liaison of the Year, to Arjun Poudel
- Committee Chairs of the Year, to Ashley Harvey and LucÍa DomÍnguez
Finally, the new administrative members were sworn in. In order of which they were sworn in, the new SGA administrative members for the 2024-25 academic year are:
- Madison Coleman, Associate Justice
- Akua Acheampong, Treasurer
- Aashka Barot, Vice President
- Carolina Hernandez-Ruiz, President
Hernandez-Ruiz addressed the audience with a speech, sharing what this position means to her and how she got to where she is today.
As an international student from Spain, she said studying in the United States was always a dream for her. But it was jeopardized for her during her sophomore year. She recalls how she was almost unable to pay her tuition, and how the CMU community came together to support her in that moment.
"When I say I'm committed to serving this community, I mean it," Hernandez-Ruiz said. "I understand what it means to be lost, to be the new person, to not know what will happen tomorrow. I understand some of the struggles people go through in the world ... and we want to make sure that everyone will feel welcome and heard by SGA and by the university administration."
She also thanked her parents back in Spain, who she said she could not do this without. As a result, she spoke a portion of her speech in Spanish in honor of them.
Hernandez-Ruiz also discussed some of her plans for the next academic year, such as making SGA more inclusive through committee DEI training and increasing transparency and communication with students through weekly updates and increased social media presence.
She also stressed the importance of SGA representing the student body's voices, and that she believes her administration will push that forward.
"We are an organization run by students for students," she said. "Regardless of whether you voted for me or not, we will do our best to support you and guide you (from our positions)."
