SGA | Photo by Bethany Althauser | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University’s Student Government Association met for its last weekly meeting of the semester on April 16. The meeting was in high attendance due to the people who were sworn in at the end, and it was a good conclusion to the semester.
Swearing in new members
Marwah Almuzoughi and Kareem Khasawneh won the elections for SGA president and vice president, respectively.
Katie Thai was sworn in as the College of Liberal Arts senator, and Jaylyn Albers was sworn in as the College of Science and Math senator.
All four of the new members were excited to be sworn in, and Almuzoughi officially adjourned her first SGA meeting as president.
Student Affairs survey
Madisyn Crabtree, SGA’s director of student affairs, presented the results of the annual WSU Student Affairs survey.
“I do want to give the disclaimer that this is not representative of the entire student body. This is all representative of the students that did take the survey,” Crabtree said.
She said that around 200 students took this survey.
“42% of our students are 18- to 21-years-old, which I think is to be expected. [Then] 32% are 22- to 29-[years-old]. Gender: 55% identify as female, 34% as male and then 6% is non-binary,” Crabtree said.
Crabtree shared that the majority of WSU students are commuters and that the average commuting time is around 27 minutes.
Crabtree explained that 30% of students are registered with a club, and of that 30%, 48% were in one organization and 30% were in three or more.
“There was a lot of feedback given in the survey, but I couldn't include it all, but I feel like the general consensus was that events were during class time and they wanted to [be told about] times and dates ahead of time. Most things are sent through email, which seems to be really effective, but they wanted more time in advance,” Crabtree said.
Presidential gratitude
Stephanie Buettner has held the position of SGA president for the past year. She wrote and read a letter near the end of the meeting after she handed out special awards to several SGA members and advisors and announced superlatives. The SGA members voted on the awards.
“As my term as student body president comes to a close, I'm filled with a mix of emotions, gratitude and nostalgia, but above all, a deep sense of pride,” Buettner said. “Serving as Wright State’s student body president has truly been the honor of my life. To have had the opportunity to represent an advocate for the diverse interests and needs of our student body has been a privilege beyond measure.”
Buettner addressed many advisors and individuals directly, thanking them for how they have helped her on her journey, including Vice President Aliesha Smith, thanking her for her fearlessness and passion.
“As my term ends, I do so with optimism and confidence in the bright future that lies ahead for Wright State. Even though my time as student body president has come to an end, my commitment to serving this community remains steadfast,” Buettner concluded, getting applause from her fellow SGA members, advisors and the audience.
The Rowdy Bobblehead Award
Smith previously held the Rowdy Bobblehead Award, and when it came time to pass it, she gave a speech, sharing her thanks for the member she chose to pass the award to.
“They've been working very hard throughout this year, and it's a position that hasn't seen a lot of light before,” Smith said. “I also really want to highlight that this person put in so much time and effort into when CWS was having their turnover and their tribulations. She put in a lot of effort to do research to advocate for student needs [and] student mental health, so I wanted to give her this award: Haliey.”
She passed the award to Hailey Rainier, the Health Education and Human Services senator. Rainier then expressed gratitude for her time on SGA.
SGA will not meet again until next semester.
