A new office, a new SGA

Liberty’s Student Government Association celebrates relocation of club HQ

The Student Government Association (SGA) moved from its closet-sized location in Green Hall to a spacious set of rooms on the third floor of the Montview Student Center Thursday, Sept. 8.

The new location provides more space for official clubs to meet and organize events and for SGA to interact with the student body.

KICKOFF — SGA President Jack Heaphy, Dean of Students Robert Mullen, SGA Vice President Luke Welgoss and SGA representatives celebrated the grand opening of the new SGA office.

KICKOFF — SGA President Jack Heaphy, Dean of Students Robert Mullen, SGA Vice President Luke Welgoss and SGA representatives celebrated the grand opening of the new SGA office.

“We’re a very large organization,” Student Body President Jack Heaphy said.

“We have over 100 clubs on campus that fall under SGA, and we also have over 150 members in total in SGA. A small space like that just wasn’t able to fulfill the capacity that we required.

Many SGA members attended the grand opening, which was commenced by Dean of Students
Robert Mullen.

“You all have gone from the outhouse to the penthouse,” Mullen said.

“The reality is that the place, the bricks and mortar and drywall, that stuff is really insignificant. I know you know this because you’re in student government. It’s not about a place as much as it is about the people that are in the place.”

With the new location, SGA members are hoping the offices will be more accessible to the students.

“The culture so far has been set to where this is the place to hang out, and this is the place to be,” Luke Welgoss, student body vice president, said.

“It used to be the library, but I think it’s shifted over into this area. Whenever people need to talk with SGA or work on SGA stuff, it’s really easy to just get up here.”

Looking to the future, SGA is planning a variety of events, giving students many chances to get involved with student government.

“I would say the biggest event we have coming up is the presidential debate viewing party,” Heaphy said.

“We will be hosting the first ever prime-time event in the Alumni Ballroom.”

The viewing party is scheduled for Sept. 26 with the doorsopening at 8 p.m.

“We also have a clubs fair on September 28 outside of the Vines Center on the lawn,” Heaphy said.

“We will have some of the clubs have tables, and that will be directly after Convocation until 4 p.m. We’ll also be serving popcorn, cotton candy and snow cones outside for that.”

SGA class officer elections for class presidents and vice presidents for the 2016-2017 academic year started yesterday and will run through Wednesday, Sept. 21.

With the upcoming class elections and the improvements in student government, SGA members are anticipating a fruitful school year.

SGA’s growth will also mean more money for clubs because SGA’s budget is dispersed across on-campus clubs to support them and help them host events throughout the semester.

“We did have a budget increase, and that should help get clubs more involved,” SGA Treasurer Hannah Lacey said. “(It will help) get them to put their name out there more.”

Looking forward into the future, Heaphy also said he hopes this year becomes one that sets that standard for future classes of SGA presidents and representatives.

“There’s just a great community here, and I think being able to facilitate that for the next generation of student leaders here is just a great blessing,” Heaphy said.

“My goal is to help lay the groundwork for future SGAs and student leaders to be able to flourish and thrive and contribute to the mission of the school.”

Panyard is a news reporter.

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