SGA Report | Senators sworn in, housekeeping items addressed

At a new location and time, the 91st session convened for the first time this fall.

Tuesday marked the first Student Government Association (SGA) meeting of the 2023-2024 academic school year. In the session, the executive committee (Exec) was introduced, senators were sworn in, basic housekeeping was covered, and the group hosted a visit by Jamie Reich from Washington, D.C. 

The SGA met in WAC 216 at 11 a.m. This was an unusual meeting place, but marked the beginning of a new administration for the organization as Jamila Branch steps into her role as a faculty supervisor for the group. 

Vice President Matthew Fleck led the meeting as President Hayden Wallace interacted with students at the community introduction event on the Green. All ten senators were sworn in at the start of the meeting. As previously reported, senators have been elected for each residence hall rather than classification. 

These senators include Jalyn Todd and Chance Rogers for commuters, Isaiah Smith, Mohamed Farah, and Taryn Paulino for Haury Hall, Maria Cortes-Hernandez and Tara Atchinson for Voth Hall, and Dulce Erazo-Tejada, Kylah Rome, and Corbin Unruh for Warkentin Court.

Exec for the academic year will be Gabby Fields as Secretary of the Treasury, Kylah Carter as Secretary of Public Relations, and Maddie Bliss as Chief Justice of the Judicial Branch along with Isaiah Smith as the SGA secretary. 

Visiting the SGA was Jamie Reich, recruiting from the Washington Community Scholars’ Center. Following her time, the SGA went over basic housekeeping for the organization. 

Each senator will be required to complete one office hour per week in an office in the Warkentin Court lobby. This will be the location until the SGA office in the Administration Building is completed. Student questions, comments, and concerns can be brought to the senators during these office hours as well as through the anonymous complaint form found on the SGA website. 

“It’s been a good experience to simulate office hours,” said Wallace, a junior from Moundridge. “This has been great for just getting an idea for what students have come in to talk about, not necessarily complain, but like, ‘Oh, I have an idea for this,’ or ‘I’d like to see this change.’ So it’s been a good experience.” 

To conclude the meeting, the group broke into executive session to maintain student privacy while discussing and voting on two Individual Student Requests (ISRs).

“Today was a lot of housekeeping, but I think that now we have that out of the way, we as SGA are ready to hit the ground running,” said Fleck, a junior from Cherokee. The next SGA meeting open to the student body will take place Sep. 26 at 11 a.m.