Student Government Association Vice President Ethan Lynne announced plans to attend council meetings with University leadership at a senate meeting held over Zoom on Monday.
Lynne said going forward he will be the first SGA vice president to attend meetings with the University Leadership Council — a group comprised of top officials including deans and vice presidents — alongside the SGA president. The announcement came after SGA President Ethan Fitzgerald said in his report to the senate that he will meet with the University Leadership Council next week.
“I’m happy to share that going forward, I will now be attending university leadership council meetings, meaning the student body will now have two students present at those meetings, representing them on the administrative side of things,” Lynne said.
Fitzgerald said the SGA will host two career expos — an annual SGA sponsored event in collaboration with the Center for Career Services for students to interact with potential employers — during 2024-2025 academic year. Fitzgerald thanked former Vice President Demetrius Apostolis, who served as the executive director for last year’s Career Expo, for his work to add a second event in February.
“We are also hard at work and making career services more accessible and clear cut for all students,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said he called for student voting power on the Board of Trustees in his address to the board on May 17. Fitzgerald ran on a platform of adding a student to the board and almost 85 percent of students voted “yes” on a referendum that gauged student opinion on the addition despite the Board’s rejection of the SGA resolution in November.
Fitzgerald said he discussed implementing “working groups” composed of students and administration leaders to develop initiatives surrounding free speech policy and increased financial transparency at the board meeting.
“Our legal, DEI and finance teams are working hard to make sure that these initiatives are a success,” Fitzgerald said. “They are crafting what these initiatives will look like, and we are in the planning stages of making these ideas a reality.”
Fitzgerald said graduate student participation is an “integral” part of the student body and SGA. Fitzgerald said he received about 40 applications from graduate students to join the cabinet and looks forward to increasing graduate student representation within the SGA.
“I recognize how important it is to represent both graduate and undergraduate students on campus,” Fitzgerald said. “By expanding the number of graduate students in the cabinet, we’re helping to achieve this goal.”
SGA senators voted to unanimously pass the Tanya Vogel Appreciation Act to honor the upcoming departure of GW’s athletic director after six years of service. Senator Biyang Soh (CCAS-U), who sponsored the bill, said Vogel acted as a “dedicated” director during her time at GW.
“It is my belief that the SGA Senate should pass this resolution of thanks, not just as a testament to a service, but also to the role she served in the GW student community as an advocate and mentor to many students on this campus,” Biyang Soh said.
Senators unanimously voted to confirm Darin Razhegi, Stephen Garvey, Shifa Ali, Ariel Pennington-Reyes and Mashal Sohani to senate staff legislative advisor for the 2024-2025 term. Sohani, who the senate confirmed for the role of the Undergraduate Student Life legislative advisor, said her previous experience as a new student orientation leader will help her create legislation that focuses on incoming students and represents more student groups on campus.
“I’m excited to bring my experience and perspective of the student body to this role and together, I believe that we can make a difference in the legislation regarding student orgs and involve more representation,” Sohani said.
Jennifer Igbonoba contributed reporting.
