The 120th Student Government Assembly started Tuesday, marking the swearing-in of the new executive alliance. Along with the pair, 47 representatives were sworn in and legislative committee chair positions were filled at the meeting.
“There was a very palpable air of excitement at this assembly because it’s not only a beginning for us and our administration, but it’s also a beginning for each and every member of the assembly,” SG President Kiera Dixon said. “To see that drive and initiative from each member of the assembly to serve the same purpose that we want to serve, which is to work for students and to make this campus better for the student body, … it was a very collaborative environment.”
Before the first SG meeting, Dixon and Vice President Jaden Watt said they met with the previous President Hudson Thomas and Vice President Thierry Chu. Dixon and Watt said the former alliance created a transition document to help educate and support the new pair in their roles.
“Frankly, we owe a big part of the level of preparedness we have going into this administration to them,” Watt said. “Kiera and I are also really grateful for everyone in the Student Government Office for helping us in this past season, including student government advisors, the Dean of Students Office, everybody that’s been helping with this transition has been really helpful.”
Michael Shaw, the associate director for Student Governance Organizations for the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs, is stepping into his second year of overseeing the SG assembly. He said this is the first time he’s seen a transition of power, and he hopes the one thing the new pair carries down from Thomas and Chu is their passion.
New SG Assembly committee chairs, who will work with the executive branch members, once they are chosen and sworn in, were also elected. Only two seats — the Academic Affairs and Ethics & Oversight Chairs — were contested. Gage Trudeau, a College of Liberal Arts representative, was elected the new Academic Affairs Chair, and Avey Gannaway, a Moody College of Communications representative, was elected the Ethics & Oversight Chair. The other four committee chair elections were uncontested.
McCombs School of Business representative Charlie Weiner was elected as the Speaker of the Assembly, who leads the SG meetings.
Watt said Tuesday’s meeting was the beginning of everything their administration hopes to do.
“We’ve run the race, we’ve got our message out as much as possible, and the student body has put their trust in us,” Watt said. “It’s now time for us to execute that vision.”
