There are 95 days left until SGA’s current executive cabinet is reformed at the end of the semester, with graduation imminent for most members.
But that short time — plus an early snow day cancelling their first meeting — hasn’t stopped their ambition.
A revised election timeline, 50th anniversary celebration, additional town halls and partnership with several university agencies, among many other things, are all on the agenda for the group.
Christian Rangel, President:
Rangel, a senior computer science major and creative writing minor, is now in his second semester as head of the student legislature.
Elections, which are to be moved up to ensure more transition time, are a “big priority” for Rangel, he said.
But beyond that, a trip to D.C., the annual “Out of Darkness” suicide-awareness walk and the Multicultural Festival are all on Rangel’s agenda.
Those more traditional events will be more of the same as years’ past, Rangel said.
“Obviously, we’re going to look to continually improve upon last year’s experience,” Rangel said. “But for the most part, you can expect at least on-par.”
Madigan Balfe, Vice President:
A senior business management major, Balfe as vice president is responsible for the day-to-day operations of SGA.
Her main priority, she said, is keeping senators and the executive cabinet on task and focused on their respective initiatives.
“I’ve been really trying to work with the senators to catch them up to speed on what’s happened in the past,” Balfe said. “What they actually have the capability of doing, how to set meetings, how to do initiatives and all that kind of stuff.”
One of those initiatives, Balfe said, is focused on improving campus dining. While they haven’t seen much progress beyond expanding operating hours, Balfe said the senators are not deterred.
Balfe is focused on keeping a dining subcommittee operational “to make sure that it continues into this semester, and they’re continuing to make meetings and continuing to work with the dining hall to make improvements towards what the students would like to see,” she said.
She added that she also plans on overhauling the Center for Civic and Community Engagement’s (CCE) community garden behind West Penn.
Tatum Lucero, Communications Director:
Student-athlete and senior biology major Tatum Lucero heads the legislature’s communications. She also led a town hall hearing student concerns last semester that she said “surpassed our expectations.”
For this spring semester, Lucero hopes to ramp up SGA’s town hall effort, holding two in total. One will occur prior to elections and another will occur after.
“That’s going to serve to get some feedback for what the students really want to see this semester,” Lucero said of the first town hall. “And towards the end of the semester — whenever we’ve gotten our new elected executive cab, president, [and] vice president — we’re going to look to hold another one to give the students a voice for what they want to see moving forward next semester from th[is] cabinet.”
Orchestrating the discussions is far from simple, Lucero added.
“Ordering catering, meeting with people to get the layout of what we want to do, if we want to stay the same,” Lucero said. “It’s more so the marketing plan; the framework is there.”
Devin Frank, Director of Downtown Engagement:
Frank, a first-year film production major and former senator at-large, is a first to both the executive cabinet and the director of Downtown engagement (DDE) role.
The new DDE position was formed by the legislative body last semester to bridge the gap between Point Park’s student community and the wider community of Downtown Pittsburgh.
Frank has aligned himself with the CCE, hoping to reduce what he calls an “invisible line” between the Cultural District and Point Park’s respective sections of Downtown.
“If you move above that line [toward the Cultural District], there’s lots of excitement to be found,” Frank said in an emailed statement. “Conversely, if you move below that line [toward campus], there isn’t as great of a draw to the public.”
To increase this draw, Frank said he will begin by advocating for new greenery above the arches of Village Park, which will be cared for in warmer months and “provide a piece of concrete work for future DDEs to expand upon and reference back to.”
In pursuit of the new plants, Frank said he is putting his former free Quizlet Pro effort on the backburner. He and other cabinet members clarified that they still plan on advocating for free Quizlet Pro in the future.
Elliott Geary, Chief of Staff:
SGA’s Chief of Staff typically focuses on keeping other members of the cabinet on task, meeting with them regularly to discuss their respective progress and priorities.
A cabinet member since last year, Geary, who is pursuing a master’s in organization leadership, as chief of staff said they are mostly focused on the legislature’s fast-approaching elections.
“I’m prioritizing elections at the moment,” Geary said in an emailed statement. “Not only because they’re the soonest in my list of tasks, but also to ensure that we have an efficient and smooth transition process.”
They are planning a presidential and vice presidential debate, assembling an elections board and overseeing applications for the ballot.
After elections are over on March 6, Geary said their focus will turn to the legislature’s annual Pioneer Community Week, another partnership with the CCE.
The week, formerly a single-day event, will be a volunteering effort meant to encourage university students to get out and help Pittsburgh’s community, Geary said.
“My hope is that by spreading some of our larger-scale volunteerism opportunities out over the week, we’ll be able to accommodate more students than we have in the past,” Geary said.
Past projects included making care packages for Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, legal name change packets for Hugh Lane, an LGBTQ wellness foundation, and writing letters to prisoners.
Sienna Wraith, Parliamentarian:
SGA’s parliamentarian is charged with maintaining the governing body’s archives and reviewing proposed constitutions.
With SGA’s 50th anniversary fast approaching, Wraith, a sophomore history and political science major, said they’ve sifted through archives to prepare a presentation for the legislature’s end-of-year banquet.
“That’s my big job right now,” Wraith said.
Aside from their review of the archives, Wraith is also planning a review of all active campus clubs in partnership with SAIL. Clubs that plan on continuing into next semester must elect new officers and express interest to both SGA and SAIL.
“That’s kind of what the parliamentarian is,” Wraith said, “more backdoor work.”
SGA meets every Monday this semester at 3:15 p.m. in the Professional Career Readiness Center. They welcome anyone who’d like to attend and voice university-adjacent concerns.
