Fleck, Paulino prepare to lead SGA into 92nd session as President, Vice President

The two were elected to the positions on March 26.

As the year draws to a close, the Student Government Association has begun to make preparations for next year. This includes determining the budget and electing senators and their executive branch for the 92nd session and the 2024-2025 academic year. 

Presidential elections were held on March 26 with Matthew Fleck, current Vice President of the organization, and Taryn Paulino, current senator, running unopposed for the President and Vice President positions respectively. 

“Our current administration with Hayden Wallace has made huge progress in moving SGA here forward with everything, but I think that there is still more to accomplish — and adding consistency in SGA administration will help a lot with continuing to move forward,” said Fleck, a junior from Cherokee. 

“For me, deciding to run was a pretty easy choice,” said Paulino, a sophomore from Bennington. “When [Fleck] approached me about my thoughts on the position I did not find much hesitation. Being a senator has been an amazing experience for me, as I like being involved with campus in that specific way.” 

Paulino has been involved in many SGA projects, most notably a project in progress that would provide updates to the library study rooms as well as whiteboards for students to use while studying. 

“I think that Taryn brings a lot to the table for SGA with ideas, energy, and wanting to improve Bethel in the best ways possible,” said Fleck. “She has been an active senator this past year and we have worked well together.”

The two have goals in mind for next year including, but not limited to, projects that are already in progress such as the updates being made to the Mem Hall weight room and continuing to improve the student-SGA-Bethel College Administration connection.

“I think for me, my biggest goal is to keep moving SGA forward,” said Fleck. “I want to continue to better Bethel through my position in SGA and that comes with working with the students and [Bethel] administration consistently. As far as what that looks like, that is still in the works and could be pushing for resolutions and more projects.”

As her role changes from senator to Vice President, Paulino’s focus has been on changing the student body’s perspective of the culture and view of the SGA.

“I want to create a strong connection with the student body through SGA, and I want the students to be educated on what their SGA is doing,” Paulino said. “Hopefully this new SGA office will help bridge the gap between students and their senators, as there will finally be a solid place where students can go to talk to their representatives.”

As Vice President, Paulino will also work very closely with the Senate. Because of this, Paulino hopes to instill upcoming senators, who were elected by the student body on April 16, with a sense of purpose and professionalism.

“Working in SGA and becoming a senator is important,” said Paulino. “A senator is supposed to represent the student body and work for the student body. I want to really cultivate this culture in the Senate and change the view on senators as a whole. The student body should know who their senators are.”

Even as the school year ends, the SGA continues to work for the students. 

“SGA is the students’ best voice,” Fleck said. “It’s a direct pipeline to the cabinet for us to voice anything that students feel should be voiced but don’t feel comfortable telling them directly or don’t know where to go to tell the college. If you have anything that you think could help Bethel improve, feel free to let us in SGA know and we are happy to see what we can do to improve it.”

The two will be sworn in as President and Vice President of the Student Government Association (SGA) at the next meeting, which is slated for April 30.