Fresh Faces: The Seven Newly Elected Officials for 2019-2020

The Student Government of Seattle University (SGSU) has closed their voting period for the 2019-2020 fall elections. The representative body is welcoming six new faces and one returnee to the SGSU.

First-Year Representative: Isaiah Lawson

Isaiah Lawson is a first-year political science major. He was elected to the role of Freshman Representative. He was inspired to run because of his experience in high school leadership. With his new role he intends to make it easier for the first-year class to socialize on campus, especially during the beginning of the academic year.

“There’s a lot of events going on, but [first-years] don’t know about them… so part of what I want to do is make it easier to get us involved,” Lawson said. “I want to get [events] more publicized and get our class connected.”

First-Year Representative: Ray Tang

Ray Tang is a first-year finance and legal studies double major. He was elected as the second First-Year Representative. Tang ran for this position because he wants to be the voice of the student body that he feels is missing. He will focus on creating more opportunities for inclusivity.

“I want to stress and advocate the importance of inclusion. I would like to see more students involved and more engaged,” Tang said.

Tang wants to create more events that encompass all kinds of students by using his position as both the freshman representative of SGSU and the President of Bellarmine Hall in the Residence Hall Association.

At-Large Representative: Saniel Sunny

Saniel Sunny is a first-year Finance major. Sunny is looking forward to using this larger platform as the at- large representative to make a larger impact on the student body. Sunny wants to represent the student body in any way that he can.

“Whether that means being a voice for underrepresented groups, or just having conversations with the student body,” Sunny said.

One of Sunny’s main concerns is the infrastructure of the common areas in the residence halls, which they believe should be improved. “Those spaces are actually more important than they’re given credit for because they’re a space for students to really communicate with each other,” Sunny said.

Commuter Representative: Sarah Erdenebileg

Sarah Erdenebileg is a third- year cellular and molecular biology major and will represent commuter students. She also wants to represent the large student body of those in STEM because she feels that STEM majors are typically not represented in student government.

As a commuter, one of the issues most important to her is the parking pass pricing for commuters that drive to school. “There’s a lot of students who pay their own bills because they live off-campus and the parking bill if they drive into school is really high,” Erdenebileg said.

Erdenebileg wants to listen to the opinions of commuter students and see how she can change things for the better. She also expressed the importance of proper waste management regarding the school’s and student body’s attitude towards waste.

International Representative: Amy Nguyen

Amy Nguyen is a fourth-year biology major. She was the international representative last year and reapplied for this position because she felt there was more that she could still do for her constituents.

Nguyen wants to strengthen the communication between the student government and the student body to more accurately represent the students’ needs and concerns. She also wishes to support students of color, undocumented students, out-of-state students and international students.

“This year, I want to do something more,” Nguyen said. “I want students to know more about SGSU…how we work and we want students to come to us [and tell us] what they want to do.”

Non-Traditional Representative: Cara Stanfield

Cara Stanfield is a third-year biology major. She decided to run for the non-traditional representative position because she was a part of the student government at her previous school. Stanfield wanted to continue advocating for students, specifically the veteran population as she has been participating in veteran advocacy for 10 years. Stanfield said she will try to be the voice for students who are above the age of 25, who are student parents or veterans.

Stanfield has decided to hold off on announcing specific actions she will be taking as the non-traditional representative, as she said she is adjusting to the new position and wants to hear more from students.

“I’m still in the process of talking to other students and getting a feel for what’s going on and what matters to them. I’m not taking any big stances today until I hear more from the students.”

Transfer Representative: Dove Sutton

Dove Sutton is the newly elected Transfer Representative. The Spectator was unable to get a hold of Sutton prior to the publication of this article.

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