The most recent SGI floor meeting was held Monday, March 19 in the DAC Org Lounge. The meeting consisted of a discussion with the Chief Diversity Officer, introductions of the candidates for the 2018-2019 SGI e-board and voting on budget approval from several organizations on campus for future events.
Current President of SGI, Frank Obermeyer called the meeting to order and introduced Nada Llewellyn the chief diversity officer, associate vice president for Human Resources and deputy general counsel. Obermeyer re-iterated from the last meeting the desire for SGI to collaborate with the officers of diversity to create a more inclusive campus climate. Llewellyn, who reports directly to St. John’s President, Bobby Gempesaw, was appointed by Gempesaw in 2016.
Following her introduction, the floor was open for questions for Llewellyn. Several students asked similar questions on hiring more diverse faculty members and the hiring process overall.
Llewellyn followed by saying that the hiring process is being broadened and that the faculty committees, which consists of faculty members, are going through diversity and hiring training that was recently implemented by the Diversity Task Force.
The meeting continued with the introduction of the two opposing tickets and one independent candidate for the upcoming SGI election. The candidates were introduced and gave a brief overview of their platforms.
The S.E.E.D ticket, led by presidential candidate Roderick Jackson, said that they want to “empower and strengthen organizations and provide student leaders with proper resources to assist in the success of their organizations.”
The PLUG ticket, led by presidential candidate Atem Tazi, said that they wanted to “improve the accessibility and transparency of the St. John’s community.”
Hannah Sesay, the independent candidate running for sophomore senator, stated that she wants to improve the “disconnect between student government and student body.
After brief introductions, the SGI members asked the candidates questions based on their platforms and policies. Sustainability committee member Fiona Palmer asked the candidates what they planned to do to keep the newly formed committee prevalent in SGI and the St. John’s community. Both tickets agreed upon the importance of sustainability on campus and the continuation of the committee within SGI.
A more in-depth debate between candidates will be held on March 22 at 2 p.m. in DAC 146. Voting will occur on April 5 and 6.
The budget committee then brought to attention the organizations that needed a budget approval for upcoming events. Organizations like the Global Medical Brigades, Otaku Brigade and African Student Association were a few of the many organizations whose budgets were approved for funds by the SGI representatives.
The Global Medical Brigades was approved for $3,500 for their Red Carpet Gala, the Otaku Brigade was approved for $100 for food for a “Wonder Woman” movie night and the African Student Association was approved for $23,925.00 for their annual fashion show.
Obermeyer described the funds approved for the fashion show as “the biggest special allocations [we’ve] seen.”
The meeting concluded with the individual committee reports, no reports were given by committees other than school spirit and Relay for Life.
The school spirit committee discussed upcoming games and urged members to vote for St. John’s for “Student Section of the Year.” A link for voting can be found in Red Zone’s Instagram bio, @sjuredzone.
Relay for Life reiterated the importance of advertisement for the upcoming event, which will be held on April 13.
The last floor meetings of the school year will be held on April 9, April 23 and April 30.
