SJU4YOU ticket on plans for Student Senate
The SJU4YOU team was elected to the executive board of the 17th University Student Senate. Elections took place from April 19-20 and the results were announced on April 21.
Ali Natale, ’18, was elected President, Megan Kloss, ’19, was elected Vice President and Billy McAllister, ’18, was elected as Treasurer. All three sat down with The Hawk to discuss their future on April 24.
How did you guys come up with your campaign slogan?
AN: “So our slogan was SJU4YOU, and as you can see the three of us are heavily involved on this campus and heavily involved with student organizations besides Senate. And we were campaigning on having a more active and inclusive community of all students, not just particular student groups or particular student organizations. So we thought that SJU4YOU really encompassed that we represent the student body as a whole and we represent the diversified student body and all those particular areas.”
Newley elected St. Joe’s Student Senate executive board members, Megan Kloss, ’19, Ali Natale, ’18 and Billy McCallaster, ’18. (Photo by Luke Malanga ’20).
If you could only do one thing in your tenure on the executive board in Senate, what would it be?
BM: “As Student Body Treasurer, I think one of my goals is to help with the funding. A lot of people don’t really use SBAC [Student Budget Allocations Committee] for clubs and activities. We all talked about how we want to get student groups to network with each other, and being able to do that through funding and putting on events is something that’s important to me. And also being able to make sure that the funding is split up equally, making sure that everyone is able to get funding to do the things they need to get done.”
AN: “I want to further the transparency between the Senate and the students, or the administration and the Senate and the students. I’d like to work on creating opportunities for the general student body to be more involved with the Senate. Students can give more direct feedback of what the university could improve and also have the opportunity to interact with the administration wants to hear from them but they don’t always know how they can reach out to them or have meetings with them or give their feedback.”
Why do you think the student body selected your ticket?
MK: “I think that people recognize that the three of us represent diverse parts of the St. Joe’s community. Being involved in different activities and having different experiences and being talented in different areas allows the three of us to pull from each other’s skills. And I think that they realize that we are friends, that we are people who lean on each other, socially and professionally and academically. For that to be available to people to vote for on one ticket is attractive.”
What kind of roles are your senators going to play in the 17th University Senate?
BM: “I think something that’s especially big is the idea of being involved. And I think what we’ve all kind of pushed is the idea of getting involved, and no matter what else you’re involved in, giving 100 percent to the Student Senate. We want to inspire others on the Student Senate to have that fire under them to get the job done to the best of their abilities.”
