Current Student Government Association (SGA) President Rachel Lawler said she has always seen herself as a leader, after being involved with student government since freshmen year.
Lawler said she held various leadership positions throughout her high school years and was eager to get involved here at Slippery Rock as a freshman in 2014. She got involved with SGA that year, serving as a freshman senator before advancing to the title of Parliamentarian for the past two years. Now, the senior exercise science major is eager to start making a positive impact in her role as president.
“It really felt like it was my time to make a difference,” Lawler said. “I feel like I know the ropes already from working under Logan Steigerwalt the past two years as Parliamentarian. Having a leadership role like this is something that has always been important to me.”
Lawler will be joined by fellow Executive Board Members Brennan Smith (Parliamentarian), Riley Keffer (VP of Financial Affairs), Lexi Foster (VP of Internal Affairs), Dallas Kline (VP of Financial Outreach), Scott Vogelgesang (VP of Student and Financial Affairs) and Josh Jenkins (Speaker of the Senate). The advisors for the 2017-18 academic year will be Director of Student Engagement and Leadership Lauren Moran, Executive Co-op Director Wendy Lietara, and Chair of the Political Science Department David Kershaw.
Lawler said that she hopes that this year’s SGA builds upon the success of the previous two years under former President Steigerwalt. One of her main initiatives is to make students feel more safe and comfortable on campus, with a specific focus on multicultural students.
“We really strive to address concerns voiced to us by the student body; making every voice heard is extremely important to us,” Lawler said. “Multicultural students in particular can’t be left behind and feel out of place on campus. My E-board and I want to go to the source of these conflicts directly and address them accordingly,” Lawler said.
Lawler also hopes to increase the usage of CORE, an online community designed create a more connected and efficient campus. Lawler sees CORE as a “one stop shop” for students and a great way to increase peer engagement. This is one of many tools the new team of leadership heading SGA plans to use to improve campus and make students feel more fulfilled at Slippery Rock.
“Making sure students have the best experience possible is what we intend to strive for this year,” Lawler said. “If a student wants something done, we want to make a conscious effort to address the issue and let them know their opinion is important to us.”
The first SGA formal meeting will take place on Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. in the Smith Student Center theater.
