Nadira Wicaksana
SGA welcomed new members during its first meeting of the year on Sept. 11.
Following a moment of silence in remembrance of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, SGA President Ben Carrington nominated political science professor David Smailes as SGA advisor alongside current advisor Amanda Haskins.
Carrington spoke of Smailes’ political science background and his experience as the former SGA advisor at Westfield State University. Smailes was not present at the meeting, but the vote was unanimous in his favor.
Carrington said, “I think it would be fantastic to have a staff standpoint, as well as a faculty member to better represent the student body.”
Carrington also nominated sophomore Stephanie Bennett as Senate Chair and sophomore Olivia Beverlie as Parliamentarian. Both were unanimously voted into their positions.
Carrington said he intends to “hit the ground running” and get started quickly on the initiatives he and other SGA officers have planned. He also hopes to foster better communication among the members of their organization.
To underscore their commitment to effective communication, SGA played an icebreaker game that involved one person describing an image using only words and hand gestures, while everyone else drew the image according to the verbal description.
“Communication is key,” Carrington said.
In his President’s Report, Carrington brought up the idea of having a student senator for health services to provide more resources to students. He called SGA’s promotional water bottles from last year a “raving success” and encouraged other members to come up with ideas for this year’s promotional items.
Carrington also announced SILD has a new Student Government and Club Coordinator, Brendan Fraser.
Student Activities Trust Fund Treasurer Driana LeBron reported $1,267 and $703.42 were allocated to M.I.S.S. and BSU, respectively, for their joint Back-to-School Bash event.
SGA Advisor Amanda Haskins encouraged all SGA members to recruit one friend.
Haskins said, “The work that you do is so important, and the more students who are being represented by you being here, the better. There’s no reason to have empty seats.”