By Destiny Diggs
Staff Writer
Casting your vote for the new Student Government Association(SGA) officers has been postponed from Friday, April 20, to Wednesday, April 25. This change was made so more students could sign up to run for positions. Students will cast their votes for the new SGA officer using their my.liu.edu email. Elections are held at the end of the spring semester for the following academic school year.
Another election will be held at the beginning of the fall semester for positions that are not filled this semester by vote such as, freshman class president. All SGA positions are held for one full academic school year. Candidates will campaign starting Monday, April 16 through Wednesday, April 25.
The current candidates are as listed: Olivia Kavanagh is running unopposed for SGA President, Anand Venigalla and Adam Silverstein are running for Vice President, Rachel Youngleman is running unopposed for secretary, Adam Pilzer is running unopposed for treasurer, Christopher O’Connell is running unopposed for Resident Senator, and Aaron Cooper is running unopposed for Senate Advisor. Representing the class of 2019: Morgan Kashinsky, Griffin Albrecht, and Tom Palliniare running for class President, Erica Ferrara is running unopposed for Vice President, and Angelique D’Alessandro is running unopposed for Secretary.
All full-time students with a 2.5 GPA or better are eligible to run for SGA positions. “This is the first year that SGA has removed the requirement to be in SGA for at least one year to run for the positions of Parliamentarian, Senate Advisor, Treasurer, and Secretary. SGA hopes that this change to the bylaws will encourage people to apply for these positions, and create more diversity [in] SGA,” Giovanna Domingo, the current SGA President, who is a senior accounting major, said. In order to run for President and Vice President, candidates must have been on the SGA board for one full term.
Resident Senator, Commuter Senator, Greek Senator, Senator at Large, Class of 2019 President, Class of 2020 President, and Class of 2021 President are available for new candidacy, no one at this time is running for the listed positions. “All positions are incredibly crucial to the success of SGA,” Domingo said.
The overall responsibility of all positions in SGA is to make decisions concerning any student concerns and to assist clubs and organizations. It is SGA’s responsibility to address student problems.
The President is the official representative of the SGA and the student body as a whole; the president is the voice of the students when speaking to faculty and staff.
The Vice President works with the president and other executive board members in making enhancements to events for the academic school year and oversees funding affairs for the school. The treasurer allocates the budgets of clubs and leads the conversation concerning budgeting with other executive board members. The secretary’s job is to record the minutes in each SGA meeting.
The senator advisor oversees each leader in SGA, ensuring that everyone is in support of SGA assisting in school events and in planning and promotion. The Parliamentarian facilitates meetings and keeps documentation of official votes.
“There are countless benefits to being a member of SGA. Members of SGA work directly with staff to create change on the campus [and] it is a great way to obtain leadership experience,” Domingo said. Changes that members of the SGA work to get range from on-campus food services issues to dormitory cleanliness concerns.
The application submission to run for candidacy is ongoing. All SGA meetings, which are held on Mondays at 5 p.m. in Hillwood room 221, are open to the public. Students who are not members of SGA have the opportunity to participate in discussions and voice their opinions and concerns.
“My advice to future student leaders is to step outside of their comfort zone, and reach out of the community members they normally would not. In order to represent the student body and make change, we must understand the strengths and weaknesses of our community. This can only be done by being present and willing to listen to others,” Domingo said. To learn more about the Student Government Associationstudents can stop by the SGA office, located in Hillwood, room 219.
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