As the school year commences,
Stevenson University’s student body has elected Student Government Association
(SGA) officers for 2019-2020.
According to the Stevenson SGA website, the group’s purpose is “to serve as an active representation of the student voice to the faculty, staff, and administration; we advocate for the incorporation of student views and opinions in the formulation of policies and procedures governing Stevenson University.”
Their duties include providing funding and management to clubs on campus in order to form a sense of community. To do so, they lead Stevenson through their office positions: president, vice president, speaker of the senate, chief justice, director of finance, director of service and philanthropy, director of public relations and alumni outreach, director of diversity and inclusion, and class representatives.
The current president of SGA is a
third-year business administration major Dontae Thomas. As president of SGA,
Thomas leads meetings and organizes the behind-the-scenes of a student
government. He plans all SGA meetings, retreats, deadlines.
The group’s function as a whole is
dependent on Thomas’ productivity. He is in charge of SGA emails, and responds
to all emails sent to SGA. He also facilitates communication between the SGA
and Stevenson administration.
Outside of SGA, Thomas is the M.I.L.E event planner, a first-year area resident assistant, a club baseball team player, the chair of the SGA (?) Homecoming committee and the chair of the food committee for the SGA senate.
The current vice president is a
third-year visual communication design major with a minor in entrepreneurship, Emani Carter. She works with
Thomas to organize meetings, and, in essence, assist Thomas in his duties.
“In my opinion, my duties are more ‘behind-the-scenes’ than
the other cabinet members,” said Carter. “I have to be able to do all the
things that Dontae [the president] does in case I have to take his place. I
hold the student chair in the Student Service Faculty Committee, and I am the
head of the Student Service Committee in the SGA Senate. Aside from those
things, on a more relaxed basis, I help the other executive cabinet members
with whatever they need, go to events to support the student body, and try to
advocate for the student issues that come my way.”
The position of speaker of the
senate is held by third-year criminal justice major Jessica Anne Koch. Her role
is to plan and organize bi-weekly senate meetings. Koch’s other duties include
finding guest speakers from faculty, staff and university partners, and she is
also the direct line of correspondence between the student body and the student
government.
Koch was previously the senate
secretary. She said that the biggest challenge for this year is “increasing
attendance at senate meetings and increase the awareness that they are a
campus-wide and student-wide event,” and she is excited to take it head-on.
The newest position on SGA’s E-board
is the role of chief justice, held by third-year legal studies major Jaden
Thornton. He serves as a non-biased member of the executive cabinet, runs
elections, and creates guidelines for elections and voting.
Additionally, Thornton’s role permits him to make edits and
supervise any constitutional changes, and oversee associate justices in their
position. He also facilitates meetings of the judicial board.
Gabe Madro, the current director of
finance for the SGA, is a senior accounting major. He handles all direct
finances of the organization and the allocation of finances to clubs. Besides
being a member of SGA’s E-board, Madro is a senior resident assistant for the
Office of Residence Life.
The current director of service and philanthropy
is second-year business communication major Marriah Boyd. Her duties include
organizing, planning, and executing various service projects to be hosted
around campus as well as in the surrounding Baltimore community.
“I am excited to not only be able to
host different types of service projects around Stevenson and its community,”
Boyd said, “but to also see the Stevenson University community come together as
a whole in order to execute these service projects that will benefit so many
people.”
The director of public relations and alumni outreach is senior computer information systems major Brandon Stephens, who runs the SGA social media accounts and website, and works with alumni to help them get involved on campus.
The director of diversity and
inclusion is senior public history major Anthony Plaag. He works closely with
the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to plan diversity events and outreach.
The class representatives are meant to be a voice of their
class, a catalyst for change, and advocate for class needs. They host council
meetings and facilitate the student space to voice concerns of what students
want.
The current class representatives include the following:Ashley Hamilton – Senior class representativeBrandi Hall – Junior class representativeMarie-Clare Ofoegbu – Sophomore class representativeThe freshman class has yet to elect their class representative; however, they will be elected before the end of September.