After a complete overhaul, the University of Indianapolis Student Government Association has named its new cabinet members who will work alongside President Mallory Thompson.
SGA began the school year with Thompson being the only official leader named, according to a previous article by The Reflector. In addition to the primary cabinet, it also added a representative cabinet made up of ten members from various departments and backgrounds.
To pick the cabinet, Thompson said applicants underwent multiple rounds of interviews before being selected. She said many people applied to multiple positions, and there was a lot of thought that went into selecting the best candidates.
“The hardest part was telling people that there wasn’t a position on the board for them because all we ever want is for students to be involved and engaged with student government,” Thompson said. “It’s very difficult to have to tell people no, but we always encourage them to stay involved even when they’re not holding an official position.”
Thompson said primary cabinet members are involved in every campaign that SGA runs and focus on the big-picture issues. This cabinet is made up of the president, vice president, communication chair, DEI chair and financial chair. Vice President Jotan Johnson said it is important to have cabinet members from various backgrounds with different opinions so they can better combat big issues as a team.
“Their role is crucial as well, because they bring in new ideas from different backgrounds that we might not be familiar with and then we can fight for change,” Johnson said. “We can’t really advocate for change if we are not aware. Having that diversity within the cabinet allows us to better help and support the students on campus.”
The representative cabinet is made up of 10 students with more specific roles and populations they are representing. Sofia Ramirez, the college of health cciences representative and part of the SGA cabinet last year, said the representative cabinet serves as a way for students to easily access their student government. Its goal is to advocate for students, something she said was lacking last year.
“With this new cabinet you’re having all these different advocates for the different colleges,” Ramirez said. “We can directly go and talk to the students, meet with the deans of the colleges and ensure that we’re working closely with the students.”
Ramirez said the primary board will focus on broader student issues and the goal of the representatives is to make sure that more specific concerns are being met. She said students can reach out to her or any board member if they have questions or concerns SGA could help with.
“We assure you that the student government will act as the voice for the student body,” Ramirez said. “We will advocate for your concerns, interests and comments to the faculty, staff and administration. And most importantly, student government will provide transparency to the students. The most important thing is that we are all students and we are all part of this big UIndy family, so we all have to look out for each other.”
There are a total of 15 students that make up SGA’s full cabinet, all with the goal of building on the foundation from last year. They said they plan on better advocating for the students and making sure their direct needs are met.
“I want students to know our board this year,” Johnson said. “We had our first whole, big meeting and the energy is really good. I think we’re ready to bring change to the university so students can feel they belong at UIndy so for sure, we’re definitely working.”
