Suffolk’s Student Government Association is looking ahead to a new room, new faces and a new year. SGA secured a larger meeting space for the spring semester after facing criticism from students that the previous space could not accommodate all attendees. Meetings will now take place Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. in Sargent Hall, room 295.
“The new faces that are brought in and also the new systems we’ve established in terms of getting input from the students and kind of a more structured leadership pyramid has brought a lot more focus to SGA,” said SGA President Charlie Reyna-Demes. “Given the new room and the new interests in the student body, I really have good hope for this semester.”
Athletics committee co-chair and class of 2028 senator Tighe Hosman announced SGA’s Ram Rivalry events taking place from 4 to 9 p.m. Jan. 23. The Olympic-style competition will feature teams from the law school, graduate school, College of Arts and Sciences and Sawyer Business School.
The games will include:
Billiards and ping pong: 4 to 5 p.m. on the third floor of the Sawyer building.
Jeopardy: 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Stoll room.
Basketball tournament: 7 to 9 p.m. in the Ridgeway building.
The events will include free food and prizes such as sports tickets and gift cards. Academic committee co-chair and class of 2027 senator Bella Wawrzyniak said students can sign up through a link on SGA’s Instagram, campus flyers with a QR code or an email containing additional details.
SGA Vice President Kayleigh Carey announced that the Student Judicial Review Board will be meeting this week to review and rewrite SGA’s constitution. She will bring it to next week’s SGA meeting for the senate to review and revise.
During the open forum, senators suggested ways to improve Senator Sit-Downs such as extending the event to the residential buildings instead of only the dining halls. Another idea was hosting the event for multiple days throughout the week, so more students have a chance to attend.
SGA Secretary Stephanie Lima recognized housing and facilities chair Sam Parenteau for this week’s P.I.L.L.A.R award for fulfilling his role and for his caring and welcoming attitude towards members of the senate. The award recognizes senators who meet the six pillars which are passion, integrity, leadership, legacy, activism and “Rambition.”
SGA attended their annual spring retreat Jan. 16 and 17. According to Lima, the retreat focused on helping senators connect outside of their official responsibilities through group activities that encouraged them to meet and engage with new members. They went to Xtreme Craze where they were able to bond over activities like laser tag, bouncy houses and an arcade.
Joyce Lukelo, 2029 class senator and class speaker who attended the retreat said in a message to The Journal, “It was so lovely to see people in SGA outside of that serious setting, as we do take on many tough topics.”
Lukelo said that after having fun with the senate, they did meet with smaller groups to talk about issues and resolutions they’d want to bring back to the meetings.
“It was really great and interesting to see more creativity from some of [the] people that might not get the chance to speak as much during meetings. Overall, the retreat was really insightful into learning more about each other and how to work better together as a senate,” wrote Lukelo.
