Elections for the Student Government Association (SGA)’s leadership in the upcoming 2024-25 school year have officially been finalized. SGA made the elections available to students through unique surveys sent to their email addresses from April 15-18. Results were posted on Friday, April 19.
The positions up for election were president and vice president, secretary, treasurer, 10 senator-at-large positions, graduate senator and five school senators. SGA is divided into three branches — legislative, executive and judicial — each position falling under these branches and carrying out their respective responsibilities accordingly.
Current SGA President Victor Oluwagbemi was reelected for his position. Oluwagbemi is looking forward to the upcoming year and continuing his role as SGA President.
“I am enthralled and very enthusiastic about what is to come in the next year. Not only is it my senior year, but it is also an opportunity to take larger steps in improving the Ramapo community, and I greatly appreciate everyone who has given me the opportunity to do so,” Oluwagbemi stated over email to The Ramapo News. “I hope to set up the SGA for success.”
Oluwagbemi also shared his hopes of being a strong and consistent resource for students on campus and bringing various student groups closer to one another.
Oliver Mejia, current vice president, was also reelected for the 2024-2025 school year, and is looking forward to building onto the progress he has already made as vice president alongside Oluwagbemi.
“I’m eager to build upon the progress we’ve made and further contribute to our community. The experience gained during my tenure so far will help me hit the ground running in fall 2024,” stated Mejia in an email.
Newly elected secretary Luis Saenz spoke about how he was not expecting to join SGA but now sees the opportunity to serve as secretary as “quite exciting” and hopes to make SGA a welcoming environment for the Ramapo community.
As the upcoming treasurer, Nicole Cohen hopes to put her knowledge and experience as an accounting major to work.
“I hope to enhance the overall student experience by collaborating with others on initiatives that will benefit students through transparency, accountability, and responsibility for financial resources,” Cohen stated in an email.
Each school at Ramapo elects a senator, who serves as a liaison to the deans of each school and as a member of the Academic Affairs Committee. Ahead of her new position as senator for the School of Social Science and Human Services (SSHS), Amanda Shortt hopes to work closely with Dean Lorenz and attract more support for “those who double major or double minor” as well as “continue an initiative from this semester regarding a mentorship program.”
Elected in one of the senator-at-large positions, Juliana Campagna is grateful for the opportunity she had to work with SGA in her first year at Ramapo.
“Being involved in SGA this past year as a first-year student has been truly invaluable to me,” Campagna stated in an email.
As she heads into her second term on the SGA, Campagna hopes to continue to be an outlet for students and “increase SGA’s presence among students and make them more aware of the power we have as an organization.”
Heading into the 2024-25 school year, the newly-elected SGA looks forward to continuing to make the Ramapo community a safe and welcoming environment. They plan to take action on initiatives currently in the works as well as newly-developed plans to better suit the students of Ramapo.
mkane10@ramapo.edu
Featured photo by Rebecca Gathercole
