Student Government Association senators confirmed a new director of the Student Advocate’s Office at the body’s third meeting of the term Wednesday.
Vice President Aicha Sy swore in rising junior Erika Cole, an international affairs and political communication double-major who previously served as the head of the Division for Student Grievances within the SAO, as the chief student advocate after senators voted unanimously to confirm her. Former SGA President Ethan Lynne created the SAO last fall, intended to assist students and organizations undergoing an official conduct process, after students reported concerns about GW’s student conduct process.
The SAO operates as an independent entity within the SGA and consists of a team of specially trained student advocates who can assist students as they navigate the conduct process. Beyond assisting students through the conduct process, the SAO also provides policy guidance pertaining to the conduct process to the SGA’s legislative branch.
During her confirmation, Cole said her time serving as the head of the Division for Student Grievances within the SAO will help shape how she leads the SAO in her new role.
“Helping develop its policies and foundation has been one of the most important experiences of my time here,” Cole said. “I’m committed to continuing this work by advocating for the rights of GW students during a time of growing concern.”
Sen. Cole Bowie (CCAS-U) asked Cole about her plans for ensuring students are not silenced under the new guidelines within the new Code of Student Conduct, which officials finalized last month and went into effect June 1. Bowie said students were concerned that student protests could be construed as “disruptive behavior,” which the document deems prohibited conduct.
The SAO submitted a letter to the Division of Student Affairs in January outlining the office’s objections to an earlier draft of the code, which officials released in November, that removed student conduct panels and limited students’ appeals pathways.
The final draft of the code removed restrictions on the appeals process and established the creation of an automatic review panel consisting of a student, a faculty member and an administrator in cases where students face severe sanctions.
Cole said she would continue to meet with Conflict Education and Student Accountability, the office that oversees the student conduct process, and would take part in training sessions at new student orientations about University policies surrounding freedom of speech to educate students on the guidelines in the new code and ensure their rights are protected.
“We’re already actively engaging with each other to work on making sure that students’ voices are not taken away, and that will only be furthered with the help of you guys in the senate and within the executive branch, as well, under MJ,” Cole said.
SGA President MJ Childs said he appointed Lily Myrick as the policy director of focused student communities, a role he said she designed herself to allow her to facilitate advocacy in living learning communities as well as first generation and low income students. Childs said he appointed Karan Raina as the new policy director of both free speech and student advocacy — previously separate roles that he merged.
Senators also unanimously voted to approve committee apportionments. Sy said some seats would remain open on various committees as the SGA works to fill vacancies and seat graduate students on the committees.
Sy said she and Childs had held meetings with University administrators over the past several weeks to produce some “great plans” for the fall.
The next SGA meeting will be held on July 8 over Zoom.
