In the first Student Assembly meeting of the new semester, the Student Government Association made a series of appointments to fill vacancies across different areas of the organization, including the newly created Student Experience Senate.
SGA appointed first-year Priscilla Beltran as first generation college student senator, senior Harper McKenzie as student accessibility senator, and senior Max Boone as Protesting Oppression with Educational Reform senator—positions created when students voted to ratify SGA’s newly rewritten constitution in April.
Executive President Lindsay Debrosse praised Beltran for her passion.
“I very much related to [Beltran’s] position, and I wanted to know what her background was,” Debrosse said, “She has such initiative, just talking to her I got a sense that she was very passionate about what she was talking about.”
SES essentially replaces the commissioner positions in SGA. Senators represent different communities at the college and aim to pass legislation along with the other branches of the organization.
Second-year HG Warrender was also appointed honors program senator in SGA’s Academic Senate, another newly created position. Warrender said she aims to bridge the gap between the honors program and SGA.
“The most important thing is that the senators should be a bridge between the SGA and the student body,” Warrender said in an interview. “In my [appointment] speech, I touched briefly on how I realized what a big income disparity there was at Emerson by talking to people and so I’m going to consider ways that I can get feedback from [my constituency] and communicate with the student body to understand what some of their concerns are.”
In addition to the new senators, SGA appointed Hannah Flaherty to serve as the communications director in their executive cabinet, the same position she held under previous Executive President Will Palauskas. The communications director runs SGA’s social media accounts and raises awareness about what the organization does on campus.
SGA also filled out its Financial Advisory Board, one of two branches in the treasury wing of the organization. Class of 2021 Vice President Richard Fucillo, Class of 2022 Treasurer Anton Lee, and Class of 2023 President Sisel Gelman were appointed to be their classes’ representatives in FAB. All appointments passed unanimously.
Debrosse said that she is excited to see what SGA does in the coming year and plans to meet with the rest of SGA leadership to determine the organization’s plans for the year.
“These are people who obviously want to be here who want to make a change at Emerson so Emerson can be the best it can be for all the students involved,” Debrosse said.
Correction 9/25: A previous version of this story featured an incorrect spelling of Sisel Gelman’s name and misidentified her as the class of 2023 treasurer. Gelman serves as the class of 2023 president. We regret this error.