By Alex Noguerola
My name is Alex Noguerola, and I am running for the executive president of the Student Government Association (SGA) next year with Rose Brown for executive vice president. We are excited to bring about many changes to the SGA and student body next year.
Let me take a moment to introduce the two of us. I am a junior political science major from Lowell, Mass. I have served as a senator-at-large for the last 3 years in SGA. In my role, I have served as the student representative on several committees, such as the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee, and have proposed a number of amendments to the SGA Constitution, including changes to the community service requirements for clubs, the roles of the executive board committee and the creation of the Membership Committee.
Rose is a sophomore sports studies major from Buffalo, N.Y. She served as the sophomore class president this year. She worked on providing events for the sophomore class, fundraising for their future events and worked on establishing a memorial for Tyler Davis.
The primary focus we will have is making SGA more student interest-heavy rather than club-focused. This year SGA passed the creation of a Membership Committee for next year, which will work more on holding clubs accountable. Through this change, the SGA will be able to focus more on topics that directly impact student life on campus and making SGA a group that more directly services students.
Currently, the SGA has done some student interest work, such as getting printing services 24/7 in Robinson Hall, extending the library hours and improving living environments in the residence halls. We want to continue and expand into all of the aspects of student life. One area we will focus on in the beginning of the year is student safety. We understand that student safety is integral to creating a positive living environment on campus, and we want to help foster that in the best way possible by working to create change in this area to make students feel at home and peace.
We want to help foster a “small school atmosphere,” which Rose and I attribute as a reason for our decision to attend Bona’s. By taking the concerns of students before the SGA we want to be able to create meaningful change in student life. The SGA Senate will discuss issues facing students and create a potential solution. After the potential solution is discussed, Rose and I will work with the appropriate people on campus to implement the changes.
Another aspect that we are looking to improve on is community service as a student body. One way we are hoping to do that is by promoting clubs to host service events together. Another way of improving this is hosting more opportunities for the campus to give back to the local community. We want to continue to support the March of Dimes event in Olean as a co-host and raise money for such a great cause.
In order to create a more effective and student-oriented SGA, we want to hear back from students about their concerns. We encourage students to reach out to their class officers, senators and the Executive Board to make sure your issues are heard.
Make sure to vote on MySBU during the week of March 31. Vote for Alexander Noguerola & Rose Brown for SGA Executive President and Vice President.
nogueraj11@bonaventure.edu
