“Our SGA team is here to help you, the student body, make a difference on campus. We are not the only ones who have the ability to make a change.”
Whether you know it or not, most of you have probably been to an event that SGA has either sponsored, co-sponsored or assisted in some way. This includes Homecoming, Blizzard on the Boulevard, CANstruction, Coffee and Conversation and so much more. Although we spend a great portion of our time trying to reach out to the student body to hear their needs and promote their activities, there is a large portion of SGA you all are missing. It is what you can do to change our university for the better. Although we have congress members and an executive team that leads and participates in our organization, it is also imperative that the student body realizes that they can assist with legislation and getting their voices out there too.
Our organization has congress meetings that are open to the student body every other Monday from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. in JAAC 1034 — this may change according to each semester. Our next meeting is Nov. 6.
However, anyone can come to these meetings and listen to what we talk about when we discuss change in our Belmont community. If a student or organization wants to speak for 10 to 15 minutes at our meetings, they can email me at macy.thompson@pop.belmont.edu, and I will gladly put you on the agenda for the evening. Students and organizations do not realize the impact they have when they speak to our Congress members. Our members want to know what is going on in all aspects of campus life in order to help them.
Recently, we re-structured our student government to represent every college equally. This means that the Curb College, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Honors Program, etc., all have Congress members that are representing their college equally. We also have at large representatives that do not represent one specific college, but the entire student body. As SGA strives to represent all of Belmont University, we still need the help of the students to come and let us know about the concerns they have.
Where is our office?
Our office is located in the Beaman Student Life Center across from the rock wall, and our executive team has office hours in order to allow students who may need to simply walk in and discuss a problem to do so. Our rule is… if the light is on in the office, come on in! If you have a concern and want to meet more privately, you can go on our website — www.belmontsga.org — to find both congress members and executive members. Our email and phone numbers should be listed below our pictures.
Can students present an issue to congress? Will they write legislation for it?
Absolutely! Students can come to our executive team or congress members with an idea to write legislation on a particular issue they have. The student(s) can help our congress members with the legislation and be an integral part of a resolution that may get passed in Congress, and then sent to the student body for a vote. However, as we cannot promise all concerns will lead to legislation that will pass, we encourage you to come and begin the conversation. We also like to keep our upper administration informed about certain concerns of the student body as we value them as a source of guidance and respect while presenting resolutions. Our SGA team is here to help you and be an advocate for you, the student body.
Macy Thompson
Vice President, Belmont SGA