Members of the Saint Mary’s College Student Government Association (SGA) spent their summers working on ways to incorporate the College’s theme of “community” into the group’s programming for the upcoming school year.
“We have a ton of goals for this year,” SGA vice president Madeline Kohler said. “Our committee members have worked very hard this summer to get a jump start on planning and organizing different events and big weeks to make this happen.”
The first campus-wide event is an American-themed Belles Bash and will take place Sunday, August 23, featuring food, games, music and giveaways throughout the night, Kohler said. The event is open to Holy Cross and Notre Dame students as well, she said.
“In addition to bringing the SMC campus together, we really want to unite the tri-campus community,” Kohler said.
Keeping with the theme of community, Kohler said SGA is making a strong effort to get more diverse representation within the association. By creating the Community Justice Committee to replace the International Committee, SGA will bring together underrepresented groups on campus, she said.
“The international committee only spoke to our international students on campus,” Kohler said. “And while they are very important to us, we want to focus on all diverse members of Saint Mary's — therefore renaming it the Community Justice Committee, where we will bring underrepresented groups on campus together such as students with disabilities, transfer students, international students, LGBTQ and minority groups.”
Kohler encouraged students to participate in upcoming campus events that SGA has planned
“Students can get involved in SGA by being on a committee within our organization such as First Year Concerns, Social Concerns, Food, Community Justice, Sustainability, Mission, Community, Technology and Market and Media. Students can learn more about these committees and get involved at Student Involvement Fair on August 25 at 5 p.m.,” she said.
Kohler said SGA hopes to involve more students in the association by being more transparent to the SMC community.
“We want to be open and honest with the students of Saint Mary's and inform them of important events going on around campus,” she said. “We also want to address the problems and concerns that the SMC Community has by encouraging students to come to our Senate meetings, which will be town hall style, so all students can express and discuss their ideas, problems, and concerns.
“We really want to unite the campus together, from freshman to seniors and really focus on the Saint Mary's community. We want to get as many Belles involved as possible and it would be awesome to see students support SGA by showing up the these events that we work so hard to plan for the students and community.”
