The Student Government Association at Iona continues to work with faculty and staff to ensure that all voices are heard.

SGA is a governing board made up of elected student officials. The executive board is elected by the school, and senators are elected by members of a class year or the whole school, depending on which position they hold. Each class year has five senators.

SGA holds weekly legislative meetings to give general reports, updates on what is happening with the other committees and time for the senators to vote together. There are committees focused on Information Technology, Food Services, Student Life and many others. Senior Senator Gabriella Federowicz serves on the food services committee, where she brings up student concerns about the college’s food to Chartwells management.

Federowicz said she advocates for more vegan options and more options for students with food allergies in particular. She recognizes how having relationships with other groups on campus can help improve Iona as a whole.

“It’s all about connections and establishing relationships to make Iona the best it can be,” she said.

Hannah McGowan, president of the Student Government Association, shared her own personal experience and how joining SGA has affected her.

“SGA holds a very close place to my heart because it gives students an outlet to advocate for others,” McGowan said. “It’s been really powerful for me to be able to advocate for students at Iona and make sure that all student voices are heard. And, it’s an interesting practice in where my opinions are and where the opinions of others lie, so it’s been really fun to navigate that, and [find] when to step back and let other people speak and give others a platform to share their voice.”

Federowicz said she joined as a senior class senator because she loves representing the seniors.

“I feel I wouldn’t be able to reach students in the college as a whole,” she said. “I don’t know the new core, so I would not be able to represent the freshmen or sophomores. I wanted to plan senior events.”

Federowicz also said that on more than one occasion she ran interference between the administration and students. She once heard from her friends that they were not receiving information on graduation and senior events from the Registrar, so she and other members of the SGA e-board communicated with the Registrar office to resolve the problem.

“It’s up to senators to spread the word and make sure people are up to date,” Federowicz said.

Federowicz also said that the SGA is focused on inclusion through policy. SGA meetings are open to all students and she wanted to encourage people to come to the meetings.

“We want everyone to feel welcome an as though they have a place in SGA,” she said.

SGA not only creates policy and speaks on behalf of students to the administration, they also advertise and support clubs and other groups on campus. Their focus for the clubs is retention and getting people to club events.

“We always want to support other clubs, societies and associations,” Federowicz said.

Each senator is required to have two office hours – one individual one and one group one with the other senators from their year.

“It’s a really good time to meet with us because you know we will be there and so will other class members,” Federowicz said. “We can bounce ideas off each other.”

Senator and e-board office hours are posted on social media and served in the SGA office on the bottom floor of LaPenta, which is accessed through Club Hub.

SGA’s newest proposal is to add an extra activity hour to the schedule. They are working with faculty and staff to in hopes of impacting students in a positive way. There is no final draft but if it were to be approved this year, it’s estimated that it would go into effect in the fall of 2020.

The SGA is currently looking to fill positions for one senior senator, one sophomore senator and three junior senators. Anyone interested needs to be free from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays and should contact Meghan Wright at [email protected].