Last week, SVSU students elected accounting junior and current Speaker of the House Cody McKay as Student Association president.
McKay received 659 votes, defeating communication sophomore Jeremy Flood, who received 186 votes, and public administration junior Brandon Errer, who received 158 votes.
“I’m very honored and excited to have this opportunity to serve students in this capacity,” McKay said. “I’m excited to listen to the heartbeat of SVSU and advocate on behalf of students, following through on what I talked about during the campaign.”
McKay’s platform consisted of three main points: “students first,” student engagement and student opportunities.
To keep students at the forefront of the Association’s mind, McKay, as president, will focus on how the Association can prioritize students and their concerns when making decisions, conducting business and hosting events.
“To continue with the mindset of helping (students),” McKay wrote on his campaign Facebook page, “we (members of Student Association) need to actually engage you. By this, I mean we are known for sitting in our office that individuals are scared of. I think it’s time we step out of the office more and interact with the student body.”
McKay’s platform also consisted of helping students accomplish their goals by continuing to offer students allocations to attend academic and professional conferences.
To create even more opportunities, he also plans to introduce four annual $500 scholarships for students; two would be awarded to students who live on campus, while the other two would be awarded to students who commute.
SA representatives elected include Shane McLure, Manny Lamarche, Jack Duly, Timothy Nelson, Cassie Misiolek, Emma Eldred, Aaron Smith, Ra’Ven Miller, Cynthia Kerr, McKena Ciner, Sean Mueller, Tyler Kwapis, Madison Laskowski, Tyson McKinely, Shannon Russell, Leslie Smith, Kelsey Earle, Yavaha Oglesby, Carly Lipinski, Allison Marier, Lauren Kreiss, Megan Gonzalez, Jacquob Littlejohn and Madison Clements.
Six amendments to the Student Association charter were also on the ballot. All six proposed amendments were passed.
The first amendment proposed adding a non-discrimination statement to the charter’s preamble, which would read, “The Student Association of Saginaw Valley State University is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in the provision of educational and other services to the public and the students. These opportunities are to be provided regardless of race, religion, color, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, physical impairment, disability, socioeconomic status or veteran status.”
The vote for this was, 854-28 in favor.
The second amendment proposed changing the minimum number of Association representatives from 13 to 0.1 percent of the total number of enrolled SVSU students.
This was accepted, 764-75.
The third amendment proposed clarifying the order of the presiding officer for House meetings. This clarification would be added to article 1, section 6, subsection 5, and would read, “In the event that the speaker, parliamentarian, and ombudsman are absent, any member, except the President, shall be designated by plurality of those present to preside.”
The vote for the third amendment was 754-53.
The fourth amendment proposed an addition to article 8, section 1 of the charter regarding the order of governing documents for the Association. This addition would read, “The Association shall, in all actions, follow these documents and regulations in the following order: The Charter, By-Laws, Written Judicial Opinions, Robert’s Rules of Order, Verbal Judicial Opinions, Standing Rules of Order, and Precedent.”
This was accepted, 723-54.
The fifth amendment proposed adding a review process of the charter every four years by the legislative and external affairs committee or a newly-formed ad-hoc committee.
This amendment was passed with a 732-51 majority.
The sixth amendment proposed clarifying the Association president’s formal duties of reporting Association actions to students. The president would be required to inform students about Association actions or other matters.
This was accepted, 755-36.
