Representation from all three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial) of the Alabama State University Student Government Association (SGA) held an All-Branch meeting on Sept. 29 to discuss the implementation of student town hall meetings and preparations for the upcoming homecoming festivities in the John Garrick Hardy Center Ballroom at 7 p.m.
SGA Executive Vice President Trint Martinez is spearheading the town hall preparations that will include the entire SGA and the student body.
During the town hall meetings, students are invited to come out and voice their opinions and let their voices be heard, and according to the SGA Executive President Dylan Stallworth, the town hall meetings will also be used to inform students of the current standings of refund checks. University department heads are also invited to attend as well.
With homecoming less than a week away, Martinez emphasized the importance of having all hands on deck for the many events the SGA plans to host.
“I want to see which committee wants to work each event or it doesn’t even have to be a committee,” Martinez said. “It can be a volunteer list of up to 10 people per event. We’re going to need the most participants mainly for the fair. Probably about 15 participants for the fair, a good 10 for the Tailgate, and for the Lab Mixer, all of SGA needs to be there. And 10 for the Spa as well.”
The SGA plans to have shifts for their long events like the fair, to allow all members to be a part of the festivities. Fliers will be disseminated to the student body to give additional information on each homecoming event soon.
Another area of concern discussed at the meeting was communication, especially during the “room for improvement” and “chain of command” segments of the agenda. Members of the SGA Senate, including Senator-at-large and Senate Secretary Chavon Brown, highlighted the lack of communication.
“We are one SGA, but sometimes it doesn’t feel that way,” Brown said. “Our bond is lacking.”
The entire SGA agreed that communication and lack of bonding have made it harder to connect. Members also mentioned feeling excluded from the executive board and out of the loop of some things going on.
In response to these claims, Stallworth and Martinez assured the members outside of the E-board that communication and utilization of other entities would improve. They referred to upcoming events like Halloween, Magic City Classic and SGA Week as opportunities to utilize other entities .
The Jackson Mississippi Relief Drive was also highlighted in the meeting. Everyone in the SGA is expected to make some contribution to the drive. SGA officials are to publicize the drive and inform the student body to give back to the community.
Stallworth ended by ensuring new changes for the SGA.
“What I’ve been trying to do since I’ve been in office is making sure that structurally as a government, we’re being more and more efficient and effective each day,” he said.