The University Student Senate sets the purpose to “provide full representation of the views and opinions of the students”. Everyone on campus knows about Student Senate and for the most part, but not many people take too much notice to it. But for those involved, it obviously struck something for them to join. So we talked to some new faces of the Student Senate to see what it means to them.
For some of the Student Senators, student government is all they’ve known. John Sharman, a freshman senator recently elected, has been in student government since middle school and was even the class President his senior year of high school. For some senators, they were surrounded by student government in their own homes, like Chloe Ramirez for instance, “My brother is a Junior here at St. Joe’s and he’s been in Student Senate since freshman year and he’s loved it so I wanted to get involved as well, and to also have a voice in the student body”.
Now, for most of the campus, many people don’t seem to care that much about Student Senate. But for these students involved, they think it’s one of the most important things on campus. When asked why other students should care about Student Senate, John Sharman simply said, “It’s their way to see change”. “Student Senate works to make all of those ideas and initiatives happen and we work so hard to make changes and additions that everyone would want to see happen”, says Ramirez.
There also comes with the question on what the Student Senate actually does, some may think it’s just to plan events on campus, but they actually seem to do much more then just sit around and plan events. “We attend weekly meetings where our voices are heard and we also attend 2-3 senate events a week”, Sharman said. Many of these events include tabeling outside campion, coffee with the cops, dining committee meetings, and attending other society meeting like the economics society. Sharman says that, “My favorite part about being in Senate is always being in the know”. Other students can get this by “coming to public meetings and raising questions to raise initiative”. Student Senate may not be something for everyone to get involved with directly but there are ways to get involved indirectly too.
Although Student Senate isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, for these students it’s their sport, club or any other activity that others are involved with. Be sure to check out the student senate website to see what they’re up to or follow their social media accounts to get involved!
https://clubs.sju.edu/uss/files/2012/08/SJU-USS-Constitution.pdf
Facebook: SJU University Student Senate; @sju.uss
Instagram: @senatesju
Twitter: @SenateSJU
YouTube: SJU Senate
