the Informer

Courtesty of Students for Democracy

In recent weeks, a group on Facebook referring to themselves as “Students For Democracy at the University of Hartford” was created with the mission of forming a more Democratic campus. The intent of this article is not to jump to the defense of Student Government.

Instead, I’d like to take this occasion to thank these concerned students for bringing forth an issue that needs to be addressed.

In fact, their concerns are directly synergistic with our Student Government efforts, that being the encouragement of student activism in all facets of the University experience.

In my opinion, student activism is essential to both the upholding and establishment of any University’s tradition and culture. Through student activism, voices are heard and changes can be made on a very large scale. Our Student Government slogan is “For the Students, by the Students.”
Myself, along with every elected Student Government officer, are dedicated to serving the University. SGA understands that like every other institution in the country, the University of Hartford has the ability to improve upon itself.

That said, SGA works towards improvement by turning student concerns into student-run initiatives. These initiatives are made exponentially more powerful with the support of as many students as possible. It is essential that as a student body we work together to not only bring forth issues, but take the extra steps to formulate and implement solutions.

SGA has taken very seriously the issues that were brought forth by the “Students For Democracy at the University of Hartford” group. As a result, we have added extra chairs at our Senate meetings, which take place at 12:15 p.m. every Tuesday in GSU 331. During the meetings students, as well as faculty, are welcome to speak in front of Senate about issues and concerns surrounding our campus. SGA has also started actively encouraging students to come to meetings through Hawk Talk and the Campus Calendar.

As it currently stands, the Student Government Association is structured as a representative democracy. Members of the student body have the opportunity to elect senators to represent each class, all seven colleges, every living complex, commuter students, and first year transfer students.
This format allows all students to have a minimum of three representatives.

These elected representatives serve a minimum of two office hours every week. In addition to the Senator positions, there are nine other Executive Board members. All Executive Board members serve between 10 and 20 hours in the SGA office per week. The purpose of holding these office hours is to allow students to make appointments with their representatives at a time that is convenient for both parties. The SGA office is guaranteed to be open every day Monday-Friday between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. If you are unable to meet during these office hours, SGA also has an email (sga@hartford.edu) that is checked daily.

Recently, myself and three other executive board members had the privilege of attending the National Student Government Summit in Washington, DC. Among the many take a ways, the Executive Board Members and I, which represented you from the University of Hartford, were struck by the level of integration our Student Government has with administration on this campus as compared to the vast majority of other schools in attendance. For example, in many of our breakout sessions we found ourselves fielding many inquiries from other University attendees as to how they should proceed in establishing a sound relationship with their student body and administration.

As the Student Government Association president, I am proud to represent each and every student. I want to take this opportunity to challenge all of you to raise the bar beyond what SGA has accomplished thus far. Look within yourself to identify a strength that can be applied towards the advancement of the greater good.