Panther politicos took their spots for the first time since the April elections on Thursday, Sept. 1, in the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Senate meeting.
In the Student Center East ballroom the Senate kicked it off with a moment of silence for a “fallen Panther”. Anthony Nguyen, communications director, listed murdered student Charles Rudison’s accomplishments on and off campus, and gave details for donations.
Fortune Onwuzuruike, SGA president said this year’s got a lot in store, and he’s set a lot of goals for the student government.
“This year we’re not going to sit around waiting for students to come to us,” he said. “We want to make SGA visible.”
The Student Services committee announced its intention to bring back grocery shuttles back this year, with routes to Kroger, Target, and the shopping center by Little Five Points. The committee is also partnering up with Panther’s Pantry this year, to bring in more donations, after seeing a 200% increase of student visitors since last fall.
With an audience of ten, Speaker of the Senate, Blessing Akomas, said the association’s main goal for the year was “brand awareness”.
“We need to put SGA out there and make ourselves known to the student body,” she said.
Onwuzuruike said the plans also include getting more students at athletic events as well, and have the athletes get cheered on by an “army of Panthers”.
But the president didn’t stop there. He said SGA will be an advocate for campus security and talk to administrators to voice student concerns. In the next university-wide meeting scheduled for Sept. 29, Onwuzuruike said Georgia State University Police Department (GSUPD) Chief Carlton Mullis will be in attendance.
Executive Vice President Shamari Southwell said according to talks with the police, biometric scanners will be installed and ready by February.
But Southwell made another statement of interest to Georgia State students graduating this spring.
He said graduating Panthers might be walking towards their diploma in May on yellow jackets’ territory.
“It’s not for sure,” Onwuzuruike said, “But with the Dome getting knocked down and the Mercedez-Benz not ready by that time, we are keeping Georgia Tech an option. Turner Field might be ready, but these are all just options for now.”
FTS