The Student Government Association Senate confirmed eight senators for vacant positions across six schools and passed a bill to collect student feedback on officials’ decision to arm some GW Police Department officers at a meeting Monday.
SGA senators filled two vacant School of Medicine and Health Sciences graduate seats — one undergraduate and one graduate — two Columbian College of Arts & Sciences graduate seats, one graduate School of Nursing seat and one Elliott School of International Affairs graduate seat. After the confirmations, six graduate seats and three undergraduate seats remain vacant.
In previous years, the SGA Senate has headed into the fall semester with vacancies that are typically filled during the term. Senate vacancies are filled via the vacancy application, which the body accepts until all positions are filled.
SGA senators confirmed first-year graduate students Kendall Rogers and Vincent Pellegrino for the CCAS graduate senator seats. Pellegrino said he wants to work with GW Campus Living to offer support for graduate students who are searching for housing in D.C. because they are not eligible to apply for on campus housing. Rogers said she hopes to make graduate students feel more connected to the student body by having conversations with students about how to improve campus culture.
“As a new GW student and as a new member of the GW community, I have a deep commitment to making sure that each student’s voice is heard and that their perspectives are considered when forming policies.” Rogers said.
Senators voted to confirm Neha Bagga for the ESIA graduate seat. Bagga said she wants to increase on-campus job opportunities for international students at GW because the current openings are “very limited.” She said international students are not permitted to work on-campus jobs until they have completed one year at the University and hopes to expand resources so international students can still find employment during their first year.
The senate confirmed first-year medical student Sarah Bokaee and third-year medical student John Wainwright for SMHS graduate seats. Bokaee said she wants to “strengthen” the relationships between the medical school and other graduate schools at GW to connect medical school students to the rest of the GW community. Wainwright said he hopes to expand operating hours at the Himmelfarb Health Sciences library, which currently closes at midnight Monday through Thursday and at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. He said this is an “equity issue” because not all students have a space to study at home.
Senators voted to confirm Skylar Son to fill the nursing school graduate seat. Son said she wants to advocate for students living on the Ashburn campus — a GW science and technology satellite campus in Ashburn, Virginia — and ensure their concerns are heard in the SGA.
The SGA senate also voted to confirm Jamaul Weaver for the SMHS undergraduate seat. Weaver said he wants to “increase visibility” for commuter students at GW by advocating for their needs on the SGA.
The SGA senate confirmed Anina Kotian for the Milken graduate seat. Kotian said she hopes to grow the graduate student community at GW by facilitating communication between students in various Milken programs like Public Health Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
The SGA Senate unanimously voted to pass the Campus and Police Survey Act, which will survey the GW community’s perceptions and experiences with GWPD officers and ask for feedback on policy ideas. SGA Sen. Jayden Speed (CCAS-U), who sponsored the bill, said the survey would be a “first step” in facilitating conversations between GWPD and students about the arming decision. He said the goal of the survey is to gauge students’ concerns about armed officials on campus following the April 2023 decision to arm a portion of campus officers.
GW announced its final plan to arm 22 GWPD officers with guns once all supervisor positions are filled in a University release last week.
“We are using the survey as a first step in having conversations with GWPD and the campus community to ensure that safety is being put first and that our students feel comfortable in the wake of arming,” Speed said.
SGA Pro Tempore Liz Stoddard (CCAS-U) said the survey is a way for GWPD to communicate with the student body and improve any dissatisfaction following student and faculty backlash about the arming decision. Stoddard said the results from the survey will help the University collaborate with GWPD to improve communication with students and help the community feel safer on campus.
“This piece of legislation is not really about taking back the regulation that has been made about arming GW police,” Stoddard said. “I think what it is is possibly a way that GWPD can encourage collaboration and communication between themselves and students.”
Senators also voted to unanimously pass the Textbook Affordability Survey Act, which will ask students how they buy or rent their textbooks, their experience selling textbooks back to the campus store and how much they spend on books for class each semester. Sen. Sophie Munson (CCAS-U), who sponsored the bill, said the survey would “persuade” administrators to lower high textbook costs.
“Textbook affordability is a pressing issue around campus,” Munson said. “Students speak often about the high cost of textbooks and choose to obtain textbooks from revenues other than the school store.”
Senators confirmed sophomore Lena Fortun as the executive branch nomination for co-chair of the Mental Health Assembly. SGA President Ethan Fitzgerald formed the assembly last year to raise awareness of mental health resources on campus and now seeks to launch more initiatives as it enters its second year.
“I especially look forward to getting feedback from students to find out what they deem most important to them. I look forward to working with all of you, and especially the Mental Health Assembly, to make sure that everyone feels supported in this environment.” Fortun said.
Senators also voted to unanimously pass the Graduate Seat Conversion Act and the Undergraduate Seat Conversion Act. The special resolutions allow for any graduate or undergraduate student from any school to fill the remaining senate vacancies.
The next SGA meeting will be held Sept. 23 in the University Student Center Grand Ballroom.
