The Student Government Association (SGA) is once again rising to the challenge of helping students. After a one-year absence from the spotlight, caused by a lack of transparency and media silence, SGA is finally coming back as an organization that students can trust and use as a platform to express concerns on campus. After the elections last semester, the slate of young and ambitious students who took over SGA after the Rifat-Hill administration has been hard at work, hosting social events and public forums for students to meet their senators and the executive board.
The “new SGA” as I like to call it, is led by President Yailine Cano and Executive Vice President Erick Silva. The Cano-Silva administration has been spearheading efforts with its senators to actually engage with its constituents, the students. Senate agendas are back to being posted on social media, something that hadn’t been done since I was last Associate Vice President of Engagement about a year and a half ago. Committees are actually being utilized to pursue student initiatives or concerns. SGA has always been known to sit on its own in the large group of organizations on campus. Under Cano-Silva’s leadership, though, the resources available at their disposal have been used effectively so far, and they have been hard at work stabilizing the once-troubled organization.
Since the election of the new administration, SGA has also been hard at work building relationships with organizations across campus, including your very own TechNews. SGA has recently elected a Liaison to the press, sitting Senator Kyle Ochotorena. Additionally, communication from SGA to the students in general has improved, especially with the creation of 312 (Campus Groups), which gives students information on upcoming events on campus, including those hosted by SGA. SGA has also elected a record number of senators, filling every seat available for the senate, allowing for every corner campus to have some form of representation in SGA. Next steps are unknown for the organization, but for now, this journalist is optimistic and excited to see what is next for the Cano-Silva-led SGA. This new SGA may very well be a sign that the student participation levels are going up, which is not just an exciting prospect, but one that the university desperately needs if the student is to improve over the next few years.