By Cecilia Cress and Olivia Montes
News Co-Editor
The Washington College Student Government Association Executive Board welcomed the newly-elected members into their new leadership positions for the 2022-2023 academic year on April 4.
SGA President junior Alex May and Vice President junior Jonah Nicholson will be joined by freshman Jack Poleto as the financial controller; junior Gage Mandrell as the Honor Board chair; and former SGA Secretary of Service and Community Relations junior Maegan White as the parliamentarian.
Additionally, WAC Democrats President junior Nicholas Splendoria will serve as the speaker of the Senate; sophomore Larissa Conte as the secretary of academics; incoming BSU Secretary sophomore Hailey Sutton as the secretary of diversity and inclusion; outgoing Chair of the SGA Environmental Committee junior Kevin Denice as the secretary of the environment; outgoing President of the Class of 2025 and Public Safety Liaison freshman Stephen Hook as the secretary of service and community relations; junior Kamden Richardson as the secretary of student life; and junior Dasha Shirokova as the director of communications and marketing.
According to previous Elm coverage, in addition to representing her fellow students’ goals and interests, May said she hopes to “serve as an informed advocate to all [her] peers’ diverse ideals and beliefs, bring back a greater WC spirit, and bridge the gap between different groups on campus.”
For Nicholson, they hope to, in addition to helping update campus traditions for the 2022-23 academic year, raise awareness of available resources for student-led clubs and organizations, and create additional opportunities for student leaders on campus, according to previous Elm coverage.
Similarly, according to previous Elm coverage, Splendoria will strive to not only facilitate productive meetings and encourage fellow students to get involved with SGA, but also “bridge the gap” between SGA and the surrounding WC community. Splendoria also hopes to be “as open as possible”; connect with more affinity groups; take additional “practical steps to recruit diverse voices to be in the SGA;” and increase school spirit across campus.
According to Poleto, alongside planning “to reform the Budget Guidelines… for post-quarantine scenarios” with the Budget Committee, he hopes to also “make the guidelines more accessible and easier to understand for the student body” and answer any questions student, staff, or faculty member might have.
“I am here with an open-door policy, and I encourage the WC community to reach out with and questions or concerns,” Poleto said.
For Sutton, as the secretary of diversity and inclusion, she said she hopes to work with faculty and administration to better the campus climate and help staff, faculty, and students foster a sense of connectedness.
“I already had a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion before coming to the College and I noticed a lack of initiative,” Sutton said. “There is strength in numbers and everyone deserves to have a place on campus where they feel comfortable and feel heard. I hope that connectedness will benefit our present WC community and our future community to come.”
For several returning and first-time SGA Executive Board members, they are excited to not only gain further experience within this organization, but also make significant and effective change to better the College campus.
According to White, one of her primary goals for the upcoming year is to review and “fix any errors within the constitution and bylaws” alongside the SGA Constitutional Committee. She hopes to ultimately “make it so that it is more accessible and more understandable to the larger student body.”
While also wants to create “more advocacy-based positions” within the cabinet to work alongside class officers and the Executive Board.
“[I] want to make it so that every student on this campus knows what the SGA does and knows that the [Board] serves them,” White said. “We don’t serve our own interests; we serve the interests of the student body.”
For Richardson, she will continue to serve “as a student liaison between administration, students, [and] for various student life organizations” — including Athletics, Dining Hall, Health Services and Counseling, PS, Residential Life, and Transportation. She also will continue to encourage fellow students to get involved in both the campus itself while “making their voices heard.”
“Students really do have a voice on this campus…[and] when a lot of students are able to come together in a productive way, it shows that it really goes a long way,” Richardson said. “We [at SGA] are still going to listen and work with them to try and accomplish what they want to accomplish.”
According to Hook, in addition to developing community projects connecting both the College and Chestertown, he hopes to also make the SGA as “approachable” and communicative as possible for fellow WC students.
“Service is what drives me, [and] advocacy is another driving force in my life, and I think working with the community and working with students here at WC is going to be so important,” Hook said. “I really want to try to make students understand that we are students ourselves. We are among them in the student body and we really want to accurately represent them in our talks with the administration, in our talks, [and] in our meetings.”
The members of the 2022-23 SGA Executive Board were sworn in on April 5.
Photo by Lydia Lee
Featured Photo Caption: On April 4, the Washington College Student Government Association announced the new members of the Executive Board for the 2022-23 academic year.