Lipscomb’s Student Government Association recently welcomed its new members for the semester.
Six students became new senators of the committees that form SGA. Students that were chosen are now part of the four main areas that SGA focuses on, including communications, spiritual, academic and social.
Even though SGA does not choose news member each semester, new positions are occasionally offered due to other members leaving due to graduation or study abroad trips.
Student body president Sierra Sparks said some students were already showing their interest in joining SGA last semester.
“The first week of school I had people coming up to me saying ‘hey if you have vacancies for the spring semester I would love to be considered,'” she said. “We got a handful of those [this semester], which that never really happens.”
After sending a campus-wide email, SGA received forty applicants for the six open positions. They eventually narrowed their search and settled on six new members, including one freshman and five sophomores.
Get to know the newcomers below:
Freshman Madelyn Ford, Youth Ministry major
The reason why Ford wanted to join SGA is its “sense of community.” Ford sees this opportunity to get to know more people at Lipscomb that she wouldn’t get to know otherwise. After applying for SGA without a freshman vacancy, Ford had worked with the Spiritual committee to plan the women’s retreat.
She experienced the opportunity to foster more spiritual development among the student body, which was what she described as something she was called to do. After changing her major to Youth Ministry, she didn’t know she was passionate about that, and SGA gave provided that opportunity.
Something she would like to see is diversity within social clubs.
“I was kind of disappointed to see the social clubs which represent the main social structure for most Lipscomb students lack diversity so much,” she said.
“[Latino, African American or Middle Eastern students] don’t pledge because they don’t see people like them in social clubs,” she said.
While joining the Spiritual committee, Ford said the rest of the committee is planning to work on a spring women’s retreat, prayer in the square and men’s ministry.
Sophomore Chloe Allen, Marketing major
Coming from a small high school and not being involved in any social clubs, Allen shared that coming to college she has seen more opportunities to be involved in different organizations.
“I felt like embracing leadership roles will teach me a lot right now,” she said.
Allen also shared her interest in the community that SGA provides.
“I would like to be someone who would encourage community within SGA members…I would like to be a bridge between my friends and with people higher up at Lipscomb.”
Allen found out about SGA through friends and decided to apply. Now, she is part of the communications committee, which is responsible for getting the word out for different SGA events. The committee also sponsors some events on campus that are proposed by students.
Sophomore Patrick Smith, Political Science major
Just like his fellow colleagues, Smith thinks joining SGA gives students a great opportunity to meet new people and have a sense of community. After being part of the student government in high school, he gained experience in being part of an association. Smith runs for the cross country and track team and said this was a good opportunity to expand his horizons.
Being the only athlete that is currently part of SGA, Smith brings a different perspective,
“It’ll be cool to represent [student-athletes] on campus…be another voice, someone who’s wanting to be active,” he said.
Smith will join the academics committee and hopes to get more student participation at basketball games and other Lipscomb sporting events.
Sophomore Mimi Vance, Law, Justice, and Society major, minor in Political Science
Vance had already joined SGA last year as a freshman, and after studying abroad in the fall, she came back this semester as a new senator for the communications committee. Vance got the opportunity to meet mentors through SGA and after being part of it in the past, she said she wants to keep learning.
“I want to see where I have a voice in SGA,” she said.
“I think there’s a big emphasis on servant leadership…for me being a good leader it’s a lot of listening, following and hearing what students want.”
After learning from one SGA administration and from this new administration, Vance said she feels prepared for her role.
“Being given another platform is really humbling and encouraging to listen to students and make a change.”
Sophomore Eden Melles, Political Science major, minor in History
While being already involved in other organizations like the Office of Intercultural Development, Melles figured there was another way to meet more people. More than just knowing people on campus, Melles also wanted to build friendships through SGA. One of the reasons Melles joined SGA is also their sense of partnership.
“I noticed how caring everybody is in SGA – everyone is genuinely there because they want to be,” she said.
Melles also commented on how everyone in the association is working towards one goal, which is trying to make the student body know that Lipscomb is their home. Being part of the academic committee, something that Melles would want to work on while she is part of SGA is more involvement from students. For example, she hopes to include more events throughout the day for commuters on campus since most commuters can’t participate in nighttime events due to their schedules. Giving commuters a chance to enjoy their experience on campus, as well as the ones who live here, is something Melles said she wants to see in the future.
Melles also share her opinion about diversity in social clubs.
“It would be nice to have more representation from every angle just so that it’s not just always one group of people,” she said.
Sophomore Kase Maner, Molecular Biology major
After applying and not getting a spot last year, Maner is now part of the academic committee of SGA. Maner said he likes SGA because of how the group carries itself.
“They take it pretty seriously and that’s something I want to be part of,” he said.
Maner wants to work on creating new study seminars for students. When students come to college, there aren’t usually places that advise students on what to expect and how to study for their classes. For example, a Biology or business professor can come and talk about how to study for a class.
“There’s such a knowledge gap between high school and college…a lot of people come and expect to just look over notes the night before an exam an make an A on it,” he said.
Maner hopes to bring faculty and SGA together to work on helping students with their studying habits.