Throughout the spring semester, members of the Muhlenberg Student Government Association (SGA) have facilitated many events and have been pushing for changes on campus. SGA is a highly influential force here at Muhlenberg, providing students with a voice and a platform to share their concerns and create change for the College.
With the student government elections coming up, many SGA officials have been reflecting on the success of the spring semester so far.
President Zaire Carter ‘22 thinks back on some of the events that SGA organized saying, “This semester SGA hosted the Mule Mitzvah, the Diversity Chair Dinner and will be hosting the Spring Wrap-up event. I find all of these events to be successful in their own way. That’s the beauty of the work we do with SGA.”
“As long as students enjoy the events and know that we are here for them, each of these events are successful.”
Zaire Carter ’22
Representative Maya Brooks ‘24 spoke on the Mule Mitzvah event saying, “I think the Mule Mitzvah was the most successful [event] because it was the closest to what we hoped it would look like. So many people came out to celebrate and it reminded me so much of my own Bat Mitzvah. We hoped to blend Hillel and SGA, and we accomplished this.”
Representative Ryan Dratler ‘24 discussed the success of the Mule Mitzvah event as well, saying, “We had the Mule Mitzvah, which was a successful opportunity for non-Jewish students to experience a little bit of the magic of a Bar Mitzvah, a Bat Mitzvah or a B’nai Mitzvah, but also for students in general to have some fun and party, dance to music and eat some nice food.”
Dratler spoke on the goals of events such as Mule Mitzvah saying, “Our goal is to provide students with another outlet for communal engagement and communal recreation. The campus engagement committee, which is the committee I’m on, is tasked with organizing these events, and our goal is to make opportunities for students to have fun, engage with each other and meet new people.”
“SGA’s goal for the spring was to continue to support organizations on campus such as [returning] club enACT and put on events.”
Maya Brooks ’24
Facilitating events is certainly not the only thing that SGA does. Carter spoke on some of SGA’s overarching goals to effect change for students on campus, saying, “In terms of goals, we are still working on our pilot program to put good quality free menstrual products in women’s and gender-inclusive restrooms as well as creating a committee to begin to do work on investigating how we can increase student wages on campus.”
In terms of SGA’s plans for next semester, Brooks stated, “Because there is going to be a big administration shakeup with the new election, it is hard to say specifically what goals will be created but we are going to have a very strong E-board and are looking forward to a very successful semester.” Carter also spoke on this, saying, “In regards to the fall, as president, I chair the General Election Committee. We are very excited that we will have a general election later this month and a new SGA administration will be sworn in to continue the work that my administration has worked so hard for. Students will hear more about that in the coming week, but I couldn’t be more proud of the work we’ve done.”
The general election for the Executive Board and the representative positions will take place on Apr. 27, and students will vote by email. On Apr. 14 Executive Board and Representative Statement of Intent is due, and candidates will be announced on Apr. 19. The presidential debate will be held on Apr. 20, and the winners will be announced on Apr. 28.
