The Student Government Association is joined by 10 new members this year

By Gavin Steele, Staff Writer

In addition to Nick Jebsen and Noelle Delumpa beginning their terms as president and vice president of the Student Government Association (SGA) with the start of the new year, 10 new senators have joined the organization.

All of the new senators ran unopposed or were appointed after the election

Half of the new senators are Philosophy, Politics, and the Public (PPP) majors, adding to a total of 12 out of the 22 members of SGA being PPP majors.

First-year public relations and communication studies double major Niyah Spruill said she was drawn to SGA as an opportunity to get involved.

“I ran for SGA because I enjoy being an advocate for voices that tend to be muted. I also love being involved in a community and being able to make a difference,” Spruill said.

“My goal within SGA is to give students not only what they need, but what they deserve. College is stressful enough, and I believe SGA is one of many ways to lessen the stress on students,” she said.

First-year PPP and history double major Nick Watts reflected on his time on student council in high school and the experience he gained from it.

“I had an awesome time from eighth grade to my senior year,” Watts said. “Student government empowered me to make a difference and lead events.”

Addressing ticket scalping of student tickets for men’s basketball games is a high priority for Watts now that he is part of SGA.

“Ticket scalping is annoying and wrong. I believe that tackling this issue will bring credibility to SGA,” he said. 

He also hopes to investigate allowing Xavier students to bring guests into the Health United Building’s recreation center.

As for the priorities of SGA’s executives Jebsen and Delumpa, they campaigned with the goal of remodeling the line system for basketball games.

“We believe the Cintas environment is already incredible, but assistance from the administration would be beneficial in promoting a more relaxed, community building, tailgating culture before games rather than the stress of lines and seat acquisition on gameday,” their candidate profile reads.

The pair also campaigned on an initiative for better night life consisting of “building a constructive rapport between the student body and the Norwood Police, with the twin objectives of fortifying student safety and devising strategies for handling sizable social gatherings without requiring police intervention,” according to their candidate profile.

New and returning SGA members have already begun meeting and planning this semester and will continue to meet every Monday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.