Student Government Association (SGA) released a statement on October 10 addressing the Class of 2024 Council’s resignation.
“We understand that the Class of 2024 Council has expressed concerns and reservations about the direction in which our association is headed,” wrote SGA, “We acknowledge these concerns with a sincere desire to work collaboratively toward solutions that benefit us all, whilst reiterating our commitment to a transparent and open dialogue.”
Sunei Clarke, President of SGA, told the Voice that Naleigha Evans, former Class of 2024 Council Vice President, reached out to SGA on September 29 to address their frozen status. SGA said the class council was frozen due to missed training and vacancies in the roles of President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
In a previous interview, Evans told the Voice that she had received verbal confirmation from an SGA member that she would be stepping up to the president role after the former president’s departure. Clarke explained that class council presidents could only be appointed via election and that it was not possible for a vice president to assume the role of president upon a former president’s departure.
SGA then clarified to Evans that they could not be President of another organization and President of the Class Council and that a special election would have to take place to fill the open positions.
Special elections are a standard across the board, Clarke told the Voice. “We don’t have the positionality to hand pick and place somebody into any type of position.”
The Class of 2024 Council is in charge of senior events, and Clarke assured the Voice that several students have expressed interest in running to fill the open positions. However, she confirmed that if no one fills the positions, the SGA Executive Board will plan senior events.
“The entire Executive Board are seniors,” Clarke said, “[Senior events are] something we want to enjoy and [a] experience we all want to have and give to our seniors.”
Clarke told the Voice that she looks forward to welcoming the next Class of 2024 Council. She hopes they understand “this job is not just for the Class Council or for SGA, it’s for a greater body of people who worked really hard.”
