Elections for all classes start this week
Caleb Nelson| Staff Writer| cnelson@mail.smcvt.edu
Every fall, the Student Government Association (SGA) is busy making events happen on campus. Numerous positions need to be filled in both the class of 2026 and 2025
“SGA is directly involved with exactly how much money each club gets. The programmers have the largest budget within the SGA because they put on events like P-Day,” said SGA Advisor Emily Zimmer,’19. There is more to SGA than just dealing with budgets for clubs and events, making sure student life here on campus is enjoyable is also very important.
“The SGA is like the school’s sidekick to make sure students are enjoying not just the academic life but their social life here on campus as well,” said Kelechi “KC” Onuoha, SGA president. Students can go to the SGA when they want to create a new club, current clubs can also go to SGA when they need assistance.
The SGA also produces events held on campus like Friday Knight Dry, Welcome Back Bash, club fairs and P-Day. SGA is also responsible for getting popular food trucks to come to campus such as Ben & Jerry’s and The Wheelhouse. Lauren Best, the Co-Secretary of Programming explained that SGA puts on engaging events that keep students connected with both campus and each other. Although SGA puts on a variety of events for the student body, SGA also has a responsibility to make sure political positions of the student body are filled with the best qualified.
The class of 2026 positions are open because this is their first year being involved and making a difference in the community. This is not the case for the class of 2025.
“When [the Class of 2025] came in as first-years, they were still in the COVID era so most of them do not really even know what the school has to offer,” Onuoha said.
On Tuesday, the open forum was held on the third floor of Dion in the Roy Room. Class President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and two Senator positons are open for both the class of 2025 and 2026.
There were a total of eight candidates running between the Class of 2026 and 2025. Three people are running for President in the Class of 2026. There is one candidate for each of the following positions in the Class of 2026, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and First Year Representative. For the Class of 2025 there is only one candidate for Class President, Annabelle Farrell. All the candidates went up and spoke on why they feel they deserve the position they are running for, and what they plan to bring into the St. Michael’s community. They answered any questions that were asked by both Onuoha and the student body that attended.
“Open forum is a chance for the student body to get to know who all these candidates are for all the class officer positions,” Onuoha said. The candidates gave a speech about who they are, why they feel they are the best fit for the position they are running for, and their place in the community. Onuoha explained everybody in the community is welcome to attend the open forum and see who the upcoming leaders are.
“I think it’s important to engage everyone in our class in activities on campus and make everyone aware about social justice issues,” said Annabelle Farrell, 2025 Class President candidate.
In the class of 2024, only two positions are open; those positions are Secretary and Treasurer. In the class of 2023, only a Secretary position is open. Positions are also open for Area Representatives, and First-Year Representatives. Area Representatives spots are open for the quads (Alumni, Lyons, and Aubin), townhouses (100s, 200s, 300s, 400s), suites (Canterbury, Cashman, Potingy), and apartments (Hodson, and Cronogue). Area Representatives are people who residents can go to when they are having problems near or in their living area, and they will bring the problems to SGA meetings and come up with solutions.
Voting ends at 8 p.m today, results will be posted by Saturday. The first SGA senate meeting is Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. More information will be sent to everyone’s student email about the details of that meeting. To gather more information about the SGA and get more involved, Best and Onuoha encourage everyone to follow the SGA on Instagram. To find out information about upcoming meetings, check out their website. They also encourage everyone to check their student emails frequently to stay connected to events. Students should keep an eye out for posters put up about any events that are being planned. “SGA is really for anyone,” said Lauren Best about SGA’s connection with the Saint Michael’s College community.
Stay up to date with SGA by checking:
Instagram: smcvt_sga
Website: http://www.smcvtsga.com