Being a senator in Belmont’s Student Government Association means attempting to be a voice for students and their concerns.
It’s not always the most rewarding. There are a long hours, but it can leave an impact that matters when done right.
Belmont’s SGA on its website says it “aims to be the voice of the student body to improve the university experience of both undergraduate and graduate students by providing opportunities to make differences through leadership and service.”
Between dealing with student concerns and communicating these concerns with administration, the job requires someone who knows how to deal with both.
If not, it can be prone to gridlock, mirroring the U.S. government.
In recent years, SGA has been responsible for increasing voter registration on campus, delegating money to clubs, and it’s been responsible for concrete changes like the Period Product Program.
However, the group hasn’t always been able to make tangible changes like these, in part because of near constant overturn and disunity between old and new administrations.
Looking to the Past - The History of SGA
Belmont’s SGA has existed for around the last 75 years and has had 71 presidents in that time.
With turnover in administration and adviser changes, a lot of SGA’s history has been lost to time.
More recent SGA presidents and their administrations have been more closely documented.
SGA President Stevie Giornio spoke with the Tennessee Star about his time as president and some issues that arose then.
In 2020, a petition was started to remove Giornio from his position because of a controversial post he made on Instagram.
The petition was unsuccessful, and he remained SGA head until Zaid Hatem was sworn in the following year.
During Hatem’s presidency, SGA and faculty senate were excluded from decisions to hire current university president Greg Jones. SGA had been included in previous top administrative hires.
Even with this lack of inclusion, Hatem focused on building communication between SGA and upper administration.
“We understand that there are people out there who may have felt ignored in a way. Our role as student government is contingent on having a working relationship with administration, and we want to be able to help as many students out there as we can,” he said to the Belmont Vision.
Disha Patel was then elected president and served for three semesters until her Vice President Kaelinn Sabline-Schlusse took over the reins in the Spring of 2022.
There were a string of one-term presidents until Carter Barnett and his administration took office.
Barnett won a second term running unopposed, a feat that hasn’t been done in recent memory.
Not only did Barnett get a second term, but he accomplished more concrete changes beyond just SGA budgeting than previous presidents.
Implementation of Concrete Changes - The Barnett Administration
Over the last two years Barnett and his administration largely remained the same and operated with a changing cabinet and a rotating group of senators accomplishing changes like the Period Product Program.
“It really just came down to creating these partnerships with administration. We kind of took an approach of partnership in collaboration with administration, versus a forceful kind of grab at trying to get things done,” he said. “It was lots of behind-the-scenes meetings, lots of building relationships with administration.”
Barnett was an easily recognizable character on campus. His signature smile was spotted not only at Belmont basketball games and most campus events but even at house parties and Belmont performances.
He was projected to continue building upon the changes his administration constructed in his first three semesters as president.
But then he resigned.
“It really just came down to focusing on school and my life after graduation and just having a little break in between for the semester,” he said. “I think SGA has been my identity for my entire college career, and I loved every second of leading and being a part of SGA and doing all the amazing stuff that we'd done.”
The momentum of SGA seemed like it was coming to a halt.
But Barnett was only a part of SGA.
“Sarah has done a great job...Ashlyn and Claire in campus affairs have done a great job with the product program. So really, all the things that we kind of built on in my first term. My team was really great about just kind of sticking with the grind," he said. "They're really the backbone of putting the things that we have won into effect.”
While he may not be in office anymore, his administration showcased how meaningful changes can be made by SGA.
The question now is how does SGA continue to improve and make substantive changes that directly impact students?
Well, that depends on continued relationships with Belmont administration.
“We have clear lines of communication within administration. My freshman year, that was not the case... There's a nice ladder of communication. I feel like that has been very helpful,” Barnett said.
Technically SGA’s primary power is to fund organizations and clubs at Belmont.
But part of the reason it’s been able to do as much as it has over the last three semesters is because of the relationships Barnett and his administration fostered.
All the key parts are still there except for Barnett, so the approach appears twofold: senators need to communicate with Belmont’s administration and that administration needs to listen.
“I feel like a lot of times in the past, people thought there were only one or two people doing things, and that's never been the case. It's always been a cohesive effort and I think making sure that the senators know that it's a cohesive effort, and that they feel empowered to make changes and to propose legislation,” said Olivia Patterson, the previous SGA treasurer under Barnett.
So how does the next administration keep the changes coming?
Future Impacts - The Current and Future Administrations
After Barnett’s resignation, Zeen Ari was named president and Patterson was elected vice-president.
“Because of the great work that Carter had done in and our communication together, it really helped build a kind of like foundation for me, and so that allowed for me to step up and for it to be a lot smoother than anyone had expected,” said Ari.
Ari and Patterson are applying what they learned from their time in SGA to their administration this semester.
Including their communication with Belmont administration.
“I really do think it's significant for them to really know that we're here for them and they're here for us and ensuring that we have a mutual relationship within each other. Because if there is a disconnect, then I feel like it creates that kind of domino effect of everyone's on different pages,” said Ari.
They are aiming to provide a clear path towards stability for whoever takes over after their tenure.
“I feel like we're really just trying to make sure that there's a smooth transition, since we are just here for a semester, trying to make sure that we set the stage for whatever's next for SGA and making sure that they have those spaces to continue developing changes,” said Patterson.
Currently the pair plans to address retention among senators, transparency to the student body and visibility for SGA on campus to continue to be a voice for students.
“I think that we've really tried, within this past year, to create a sense of community within SGA so that people want to run again, and people want to stay in SGA,” said Patterson. “I think that's something really important so that people can start working on a project freshman year, and then by the time they get to junior year it's actualized.”
And these changes can be actualized.
“Nothing is really off the table when it comes to getting stuff done. When I first started as a senator, I didn't think that we would get period products in bathrooms or improved dining hours or improved dining in general,” said Barnett.
With SGA’s presidential elections this week one of the two campaigns will get the opportunity to decide the future of SGA going into next semester.
The question now is where will they and the senate take it?
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This article was written by Braden Simmons
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