JESSICA COLON
Staff Writer
Student Association is a professional organization that governs over 160 of the student-run groups on campus. SA manages the $1.3 million budget which is collected through the student activity fee. They also ensure that the voices of students are heard.
“Without SA, there would be no point of reference or student leaders whom the faculty, staff and administrators could call upon,” said SA president and junior social work and English dual major Antonio Regulier.
Student Association has held three main meetings this year, which focused on every student-run club. Each meeting is organized by different members based on their roles in SA.
The first meeting of the semester was the Committee of President’s Meeting that was held on Saturday, February 15. The meeting was organized by the Vice President of Student Association.
The Committee of Presidents meeting is a summit that is held at the beginning of every semester. Every student-run club president and treasurer is mandated to attend. Throughout the meeting, the SA vice president educates club executives about SA policies and procedures that are expected of them for the semester.
There is also a constitution that groups must comply with. If rules are violated, groups can be tried in Student Association’s Supreme Court.
General Assembly Day was held on Saturday, March 29; it was organized by the controller and speaker of the event. This meeting is a time when groups can bring up concerns to the Budget and Apparitions Committee about budgets for the upcoming year.
All executives of SA took part in the last meeting of the year, which was on April 3. It was an emergency Committee of Presidents meeting which was held to discuss the future of Fred Fest as well as ways to find safe alternatives for students during this year’s Fred Fest. The request of the last meeting was by the Student Affairs Vice President.
“My favorite event was the summit because that’s when I get to meet all the club executives and learn about what they do on campus,” said Regulier.
Student Association helps student organizations by providing them with information and funding so they can be successful.
“We are here to guide our groups so they can be as successful as possible,” said sophomore education major Hughdean Blake.
Student Association is not an organization that hosts events, but they do participate in some events hosted by their department chairs.
“Before I came to office I can remember distinctly one event done by SA, which was the Multicultural Flash Mob that was held by our current president, Antonio Regulier, when he was the former Student Association Chair of Diversity Relations,” said Blake.
Since Blake has been part of SA, he has tried to have the association host and co-host more events on campus. An event that was held two weeks ago by Chloe Elberty. It was an eco-variety show in celebration of earth week and was open to the campus, as well as members in the community.
The Chair of Diversity Relations, Angel Roopnarine, hosted an online event on Twitter which was known as FredDiversity. The event allowed Fredonia alumni to post pictures of their favorite Fredonia memory.
“You could say that these events were geared towards our campus becoming an international community as well as a green campus,” said Blake.Last week, the current sophomore class, Sigma Epsilon fraternity and Sigma Kappa sorority hosted “Bald for Bucks.”
“Next semester I plan on hosting an open forum for groups to voice their concerns,” said Blake.
SA attempts to reach out to the campus as much as they can. They also like to show their appreciation to those groups who have dedicated their time to the campus.
“I had created The Group Relation Incentive Program, also known as GRIP. It is a way of commending groups that have been recognized for their hard work and dedication, especially in cosponsored events. I hope this program will continue to grow throughout the longevity of the association long after I have left office and even graduated,” said Blake.