Hello Illinois Tech, hope all is well! The Student Government Association (SGA) held its fourth Senate Meeting of the spring semester on March 4th at 6:30 p.m. in the MTCC Ballroom. First order of business, we began the meeting with Justice Jocelyn Corril inaugurating Eamon Capps into office as Executive Secretary at 6:46 p.m. The Senate also voted to confirm or reject Harold Ho as Vice President of Engagement. Chief of Staff Charlie Janisch called for votes and the vote ruled in favor of confirming his inauguration by a unanimous vote. The vote was followed by an immediate inauguration, again, led by Corril. At 7:07 p.m., Harold Ho was sworn into the office as Vice President of Engagement.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
President Yaline Cano also announced the 2026 Executive Election Committee (EEC). The five-member committee includes students from SGA, student organization leaders, and the general student body: Bailey Bathje, Emilia Frey, Tristian Minarik, Hazeeza Olaniran, and myself, Kyle Ochotorena. The committee selected Olaniran as chair to lead the upcoming election process. The EEC oversees all election procedures to ensure an efficient, fair, and honest SGA election for the next academic year. This committee is working alongside the Office of Student Life Director (OSL) Patrick Fina to advise and assist the committee when needed. Keep an eye on your student email to learn how to nominate your fellow peers or yourself to run in this upcoming election. More information will be shared as it comes.
Email sga.president@illinoistech.edu with any concerns or questions regarding the SGA.
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT REPORT:
Executive Vice President (EVP) Erick Armando Silva Jr. announced that the executive board is working with Illinois Tech leadership to determine how our campus can achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. As of now, SGA is aware that Wishnick Hall has had a GOLD LEED certification in the 2000s. We don’t know if this is entirely true; however, SGA seeks to understand how we can expand our LEED certification across the campus to elevate our buildings and pride on campus.
Silva Jr. also announced there is a senator vacancy for the Student Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC), which can only be nominated by the SAAC. Silva Jr. also announced a vacancy among the two general assembly senators. To be elected as the SAAC senator, students need to be a member of the SAAC, where the committee will vote amongst themselves. If you are interested, email saac@illinoistech.edu.
For the General Assembly seats, please email sga.senate@illinoistech.edu if you’re interested in occupying these two seats. You may also reach out to this email address if you have any concerns or questions regarding the SGA Senate.
CHIEF JUSTICE REPORT:
The Judicial Board has announced they are currently reviewing budget appeals and scheduling hearings that it considers necessary. The meetings that the Judicial Board hold regarding cases and hearings, and the decisions they make are strictly confidential to the executive board of SGA, the senate, and the finance board to prevent colluding in any situation or, in this case, appeals that get brought to the Judicial Board. More information is soon to be announced.
COMMITTEE REPORT:
Newly elected Vice President (VP) of engagement Ho announced that the senate meeting held on March 18, 2026 is now uploaded for public viewing on the SGA YouTube. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, SGA was unable to record and upload this senate meeting. However, the Engagement Committee is now prepared to record and share the next meeting.
Ho also announced the Engagement Committee is currently planning a Photo Competition for Illinois Tech students to participate in and to showcase how they view the campus through their own lens. Follow SGA on Instagram to learn more when the competition goes live. Ho shared that the prizes will be Amazon Gift Cards.
On behalf of the Academic Affairs Committee, Hawkeye and Senator, Delwin Manjani announced they are currently coordinating with College of Architecture (CoA) Senator, Aidan Crouch to work with the students and faculty of the CoA to gather feedback and potentially work towards solutions for the greatest concerns.
The Research Affairs committee had a special announcement to make. The committee has been planning for months and is finally ready to launch the Annual Spring Research Banquet on Thursday, April 23 at Hermann Hall. This is a celebration of the incredible research conducted by students and faculty across campus and aims to unite members of the university community. This banquet will highlight the importance of research, recognize achievements, and encourage collaboration amongst student researchers and faculty alike.
The banquet will feature a student poster presentation session, faculty guest speakers, music, catered food, and opportunities for students to engage with the broader research community at Illinois Tech. Whether you are actively involved in research or simply curious about the work happening across campus, this banquet is a great opportunity to learn, connect, and celebrate academic research and discovery.
Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend! More details and our RSVP form are coming soon.
The DEI Committee appointed new Hawkeyes, Syed Qadri and Jade Hutchingson, and voted Ashanti Bunton as their Vice Chair of the committee. The committee is currently working to collaborate with the student organization PRISM to bring the organization back on its feet. More about this collaboration can be found in the Open Floor segment.
VP of Student Life Fatimah Amer has shared a Campus Concerns Survey with the senate that the committee has been working on. This survey allows students to properly voice their concerns regarding any aspect of campus, such as facilities, student life, academic affairs, and anything students would like to bring to light. The committee will consistently analyze the survey and share the results with senators and the SGA committees to look more into these concerns and work towards solutions. Senators were encouraged to share this survey with their constituents. Students can find access to this survey in the TV’s of MTCC or by contacting any of our SGA Senators.
Chief of Staff, Charlie Janisch announced he met with Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Katherine Stetz, to discuss appointments to the new advisory committee that the Chief of Staff oversees. Upon formation of the advisory committee, they will begin working on internal SGA Policy and operations.
OPEN FLOOR:
During Open Floor, Senator Abigail DiModica addressed students’ concerns about communal bathrooms in the dormitories, such as Kacek Hall, where, on multiple occasions residents have, unfortunately, defecated in the communal showers. Editor-in-Chief Elio Armas-Rojo, who attended this meeting, mentioned this isn’t a new case and encouraged students who reside in these dorms to report to your RAs immediately. DiModica also encouraged students to talk to staff members who work on campus to also hear their issues and mentioned about broken utilities that prevent workers from efficiently executing their tasks. DiModica also talked about how there is a need for attention in public spaces where students can unwind and relax. One area that was emphasized in need of attention is the several pianos across campus. DiModica has stated that many if not all these pianos are out of tune, resulting that they are simply not enjoyable to use. Fina responded to the statement of the out of tuned pianos and shared that OSL has been working towards finding vendors who are able to tune these instruments so students can use them properly again.
In response to DiModica’s expressed concerns regarding facilities during this meeting and previous meetings, along with other fellow senators, Manjani formally proposed to construct a special committee, more specifically a Facilities Committee that will be able to mainly focus on addressing the many concerns and complaints of the current facilities on campus. The Executive Board is now currently seeking senators who are interested in being part of this committee and the responsibilities it contains. More details about this special committee will be shared as they come.
As mentioned earlier in this update, the student organization PRISM has requested assistance from SGA to help get the organization back on its feet. Quadri introduced the Senate to PRISM’s president, Armas-Rojo, who shared more about PRISM’s mission and the specific assistance they are requesting. PRISM has been the only LGBTQ+ organization on campus for several years. However, the organization is currently struggling with membership and, as Armas-Rojo noted, it “practically died last semester.”
Armas-Rojo asked whether SGA could help revive and promote the organization to students. PRISM is seeking volunteer senators to assist with recruitment and rebuilding efforts. The organization plans to focus on increasing membership and strengthening internal operations, including organizing events and rebuilding its office. PRISM also announced an upcoming Drag Show event. Senators Jes Jon and Luis Gomez volunteered on the spot to assist with PRISM’s revival efforts.
Senator Roberto Cassano expressed the lack of communication within SGA and said that a senate wide group chat will help remedy this issue. Immediately, the Senate expressed their agreement of a Senate wide group chat, and the Executive Board is now planning to construct one. The reason SGA did construct a group chat at the beginning of the year was due to previous issues SGA had dealt with when the senate had access to one. These issues in question arose due to a lack of management and simply no senator engagement. However, with this current, enthusiastic, and ambitious senate, these issues don’t seem to be a concern for the future. Communication between the senates will grow stronger and more efficient in the foreseeable future.
Senator Bo Phone Myat Ko expressed concerns that students cannot directly view course syllabi before registering for classes. Manjani shared that the Academic Affairs Committee are currently working toward developing a degree catalog and are now considering the possibility of creating a course catalog that would allow students to see course information and expectations before registration.
Senators Hutchingson and Brianna Sorrillo raised similar concerns about how efficient this system could be, noting that human error, such as instructors failing to submit syllabi on time, could limit its effectiveness. They also mentioned that professors might end up sharing syllabi from previous years instead. Ten added that past syllabi might be inaccurate and may not fully address the issue.
EVP Silva Jr. advised Ko and any other senators interested in acting on this issue to discuss it with the Academic Affairs Committee to work toward a potential solution.
After Open Floor, the meeting was adjourned at 7:43 p.m., concluding this senate meeting. The next Senate meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the MTCC Ballroom and everyone is welcome to attend. The March 18 Senate meeting has been cancelled due to spring break.