SGA releases letter in support of students

Dylan Pichnarcik / THE GATEPOST

By Bella Grimaldi Asst. News Editor By Sophia Oppedisano Editorial Staff The FY25 Student Government Association members signed a letter in support of higher education written to FSU students at its May 6 meeting. The letter was written in response to actions taken against higher education by the Trump administration and assures students SGA will “have your back. We will not stand by as public education comes under fire.” Outgoing President Evelyn Campbell said the letter “helps keep the community strong during a time of uncertainty and shows that students are engaged and ready to stand up for one another and for public education.” She said this declaration was necessary because public education is “being threatened,” adding that students are scared about what these changes might mean for them. Campbell said the letter “speaks directly to that fear and reassures students that the SGA is there to protect their rights. It also shows students that access to education should not be limited and that the FSU community will stand together to defend it. “This is a moment in history where taking a clear stand is important,” she added. Campbell said it was incredibly meaningful for her to have the letter as one of the last initiatives she accomplished at FSU. “It represents standing up for something bigger than myself, which has always been my goal. It shows students that their voice actually does matter, and it is important to find community and unity in these challenging times. It’s a reminder that leadership is about action, not just titles,” she said. In their letter, SGA invoked founding University figures such as Horace Mann and Cyrus Peirce, the latter of whom established the University’s motto, “Live to the Truth.” “We recognize that living to the truth entails fighting for justice, honesty, and the belief that knowledge should serve the public good. Steadfast in our belief, we will champion public education as a necessary part of our future,” the SGA letter states. The Horace Mann quote, “education … is a great equalizer of the conditions of men,” was also included in the letter. Student Trustee Jeremy McDonald said SGA wanted to call attention to this particular quote because “[Education] allows people to change their condition, to improve, to learn to think critically, and to think for themselves. I think that it's great that people have that access, and I think that we would be worse off as a country for not having that access.” McDonald said the letter has been in development for about a month. “We've heard from some students … and we've also heard from the larger University community. … I think that kind of spurred us to have a response, and we also wanted to let the students know that we're there for them. … I think that's important because, as efforts may be made to divide us, we embrace the contributions of everybody. Whether we agree with each other, whether we don't agree with each other, that contributes to a richer dialogue and a greater community,” he added. President Cesár Matos said, “It hasn’t been easy to witness the active threats to access to education. We won’t take it lightly.” Matos added, “Framingham State is a school that was built by visionaries and educated change-makers. As SGA, we hope to honor that legacy.” Assistant Director for Orientation and Student Experience Meghan Larkin, who also serves as one of the faculty advisors for SGA, said “I think standing together and doing that peer-to-peer communication of ‘We're with you, we want you to be with us ... so that we can support each other through this,’ helps to bridge that gap between SGA as an entity, and SGA as humans who are walking the same streets and paths as other students who are not part of SGA.” In other SGA business, Matos was sworn in as SGA President for AY26 by sitting President Evelyn Campbell at the meeting on May 6. Matos was elected to his new position on April 17. Before being sworn into their respective offices, the newly elected SGA members signed the SGA code of conduct. After taking his oath, Matos swore in the other elected members of next year’s SGA. These included Luke Yubeta, student trustee-elect; Khoa Bùi, SATF treasurer-elect; Alix Ayoub, events coordinator-elect; Ana Julia Ribeiro, diversity and inclusion officer-elect; and Shawn Brooks, AJ Vasquez, Adnan Sajid, and Muskan Kumar, senator-elects. Kumar was not elected on April 17 but was voted on and appointed by SGA at the May 6 meeting. In her speech, she said, “The reason I want to be a part of SGA is to advocate for students who don’t feel like they have a voice. Also, I enjoy being involved on campus so I’m happy to learn where our funding is going.” Matos also introduced changes to the amendments to SGA’s bylaws brought up at the April 25 meeting. These are proposed changes to the SGA constitution concerning the order of the elections and the responsibility of the Administrative Forum. One proposed change was to hold an election in the fall semester rather than holding “snap elections,” as Matos proposed at the last meeting. The amendment allows for fall election campaigns to occur either on or after the first day of fall semester classes. After passing this amendment, SGA then discussed the motion to reassign the responsibility for the Administrative Forum from the vice president to the student trustee. According to Matos, “The responsibility has sort of been taken over completely by the student trustee, and as vice president, there hasn’t been much involvement around the [planning] around the Administrative Forum. So we’re essentially setting this responsibility fully for the student trustee.” This amendment passed unanimously. Following this vote, Matos introduced a motion to eliminate a section of the SGA Constitution to reflect that SGA does not have the power to dissolve a club constitution. This motion passed unanimously. Matos then introduced a clarification to this section. He said, “Essentially, what we’re trying to clarify here is that the SGA does not have the jurisdiction to dissolve other organizations’ constitutions. But what we can do is essentially propose to the EXP office to overlook an organization’s constitution in the event that we feel like something was violated, or to be in compliance with the SGA rules and regulations.” This amendment passed unanimously.