One freshman, four sophomores, seven juniors, and three seniors. This is the number of Student Government Association (SGA) Senators that have resigned, and with the six previously-vacant senior seats, this adds up to 21 open senator spots. However, the current cabinet is confident that these positions will be filled by new students passionate about student interests. Jason Chlus, current SGA President, said, “We are very confident that new, motivated people will fill these positions.”
Several students resigned due to their co-op commitments, including junior Anthony Tesori. Tesori explained that living off campus and pursuing his co-op placement conflicted with the mandatory Sunday night Senate meetings. He said, “I honestly really wish I had the chance to stay, and I plan on running again in the fall.” Junior Parker Petroff-Rims expressed a similar situation: “I resigned because I’m in Houston, Texas, for a co-op. I would have liked to stay on, and I really enjoyed my time there.”
Seniors Zoë Millard and Jose Angeles both provided similar reasons as to why they resigned. They are both Subcommittee Heads for the Committee on Student Interests, already within the SGA, and their priorities led them to resign from their senator positions. Millard explained, “I have enough meetings related to [student interests] without adding on the mandatory Senate meeting that Senators attend. I ran for senator with the intention of only staying for one semester.”
Madison Gemma, the current Secretary of the SGA, explained that many resigning senators “are making decisions that best fit their priorities, responsibilities, and most importantly, personal interests. Therefore, the number of resignations now provides an opportunity for new upperclassmen to get involved.”
Danielle Maxson, Student Life Advisor and SGA co-advisor, expressed the action that the cabinet is taking to further involve students. She said, “This cabinet, led by Jason Chlus, will be implementing weekly forums on Wednesday afternoons for students to come and voice their concerns and get to know the SGA in a more casual, conversational way. We believe these forums will help students understand the SGA in a different way, which will hopefully lead to increased involvement and awareness.”
As cabinet members, Gemma and Chlus hope to combat the lack of student interest in the SGA. Gemma said, “The cabinet is working on PR for the open positions. As secretary, I am also planning on reorganizing the SGA DuckLink page and making information more accessible so people will be informed about weekly discussions and different initiatives.” Chlus echoed these goals, saying, “I hope that the SGA remains a role model for other clubs and organizations and continues to grow and adapt to what Stevens is becoming.”
However, the vacancies might prove difficult to fill. Millard expressed, “If you’re looking for reasons why there are so many senior vacancies, I can tell you that it is very hard to motivate yourself to do anything in college when you already have a full time job […] As a 5/5, I’m just a little extra done with everything.” Currently 9 of the 21 vacant spots are senior seats.
Nominations have closed, and the first round of voting in the vacancy elections will begin on February 15 with the second round for nominations following on February 18.
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