Aiden Croghan|Marlin Chronicle
The Virginia Wesleyan SGA is approaching the new school year with a new constitution, president and vice president
The Virginia Wesleyan Student Government Association (SGA) began anew this school year, starting this year’s legislation with a new constitution, president and vice president. The new president and vice president are Miles Pifer and Christopher Mercer-Garret, respectively. Both are sophomores and new to participating in SGA.
According to the SGA constitution, the SGA exists, “for the purpose of defending the interests of the Student Body, creating a desirable campus experience, and promoting social outreach in the Virginia Beach region to be achieved through the democratic legitimacy granted to them by We, the Students.”
Pifer ran for president after being encouraged by a brother in his fraternity, Sigma Nu, where he also holds a leadership position. “They believed that I had the leadership qualities and a great drive and they said that I would make a good president, so I took what they said to heart and ran with it,” Pifer said.
Pifer said that his primary goal as president of the SGA is to increase general campus knowledge of and participation in SGA. “They can let us know of any problems, any concerns they have, and questions, or just anything that they’d like to see on campus because what we’re here for is to just help staff, students, anyone we can, and make the campus experience here at Virginia Wesleyan the best possible campus experience,” Pifer said.
SGA President Miles Pifer (left) and Vice President Christopher Mercer-Garrett (right)
Aiden Croghan|Marlin Chronicle
In Pifer’s first major vote as president, on Sept. 9, internal elections were held for executive board positions within the SGA. These positions were Treasurer, Events Coordinator and Secretary. These positions were voted on by the student senators in SGA, who run for them as well.
Senior Abby Moyers and junior Joy Ramsay ran for Treasurer, with Moyers coming out on top. Shortbed Bowden initially ran alongside the two, but during her speech, she announced her decision to drop out of the race.
Senior Veronika Murphy was the only candidate for Events Coordinator and as a result, was elected unanimously.
Junior Isaac Awogboro and sophomore Erin Beaudry competed for Secretary, with the race initially resulting in a tie, possibly caused by the dropout of sophomore candidate Lucas Gordon. This led to a standstill where the new constitution had to be interpreted. It was decided that based on part of Article V, Section 7, “In the instance of a tie in the Student Senate Election, the current President will break the tie,” that Pifer had to break the tie. Pifer cast his vote for Awogboro, officially electing Awogboro as Secretary. Awogboro served as secretary during the 2023-2024 school year as well, meaning he is the only returning member of the executive board.
Awogboro has been a part of the SGA since the second semester of his freshman year. He was inspired to join the SGA after struggling with his own mental health, and hoping to increase accessibility to resources on campus. “There’s a lot of people who I think could benefit from it that are too scared to use it,” said Awogboro, referring to mental health resources on campus.
Both Awogboro and Gordon are returning as senators from stints in past years. Gordon has stated that his goals include making the processes of the SGA more efficient so that it can be a more effective governing body. Gordon’s first year as a student senator was filled with lengthy debates surrounding rewriting the constitution with a lack of legislation being passed.
Gordon is also planning to introduce legislation that could help to bring down the cost of class materials, or make their prices transparent before registration. “At the end of the day, not everyone can afford these without either financial aid or having to save their own money, which could be used for other things to elevate their educational experience,” Gordon said.
Other legislation discussed during this meeting was a hurricane preparedness plan, continuing the Free Pad program, which distributes free pads in restrooms across campus, continuing to distribute RA appreciation baskets this semester, and voting to donate for the 9/11 Stair Climb event. This donation would be supplies for the Virginia Beach Fire Department that matched the amount of flights climbed in dollar value.
The hurricane preparedness plan legislation discussed implementing hurricane education on campus, including flyers and a sample survival kit. It was voted to table this until the next meeting. All three other items passed this meeting.
SGA meetings happen at 7:15 p.m. every Monday and attendance is open for all students.
