Cereal For Senators

Written by Lexi Baysinger Media by Katie Wallace

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“An organization that strives toward bettering campus by empowering leaders, activating change, and serving God and the Greenville community.” That’s how student body Vice President Emily Callon describes Student Senate.  Student Senate is a mix of students who represent the campus to the administrative groups in campus; they have the authority to vote on new clubs, budgets from various organizations, and to write proposals for new additions to campus. An example of what they have done recently is getting fresh fruit in the Dining Commons.

Last week, I had the chance to attend a Senate meeting, and I have to say, the senators really care

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Photo by Katie Wallace

about seeing change happen on campus. As the meeting began, Emily Callon made sure that everyone had the chance to grab a snack; this week’s was cereal. Immediately, the sense of community within the Senate was obvious. They are a group that cares about each other and about getting to know each person in their separate committees. The meeting that I attended was one of the first of the year, and the group went to several different stations that involved playing an ice-breaker, learning how to be a leader, brainstorming new ideas for campus, and working with Dustin Fenton.

Each station had one subcommittee in attendance. The Senate is split into four committees: Judicial, Dining, Proposal, and Housing. The Judicial committee is in charge of coming up with ideas for new clubs, NSO activities, and campus activities. The Dining committee is the one to thank for the recent improvements in the Dining Commons, such as the fruit that was mention earlier. The Proposal committee is the one that improves things around campus, they are the ones who had a hand in the swings that were put up around campus, and are working on a couple different ideas to give students more places to hang out around campus. The Housing committee is working on different ways to improve the living situations on campus. Overall the committees have passed 12 budget proposals from various clubs and organizations. They have also been working on getting more food options in the Dining Commons and money for class trips.

Photo by Katie Wallace
Photo by Katie Wallace

The Student Senate as a whole is an organization that allows students to experience leadership in a way that isn’t very time consuming. Emily Callon described it as ‘entry level leadership.” Senate lets students what it means to be involved in the background management of the school. It also gives students training on how to be more effective leaders through the viewing of TED Talks and other discussions. The group doesn’t take away from other campus activities; many of the senators are involved in other campus groups, such as Residential Life and GCSA. So if you are looking for a way to get involved in campus activities that won’t completely overwhelm your life, Student Senate is the place for you. It is also a way to get to know more people on campus and form more friendships with people that you may otherwise not have met.

Photo by Katie Wallace
Photo by Katie Wallace

 

If you are interested in getting involved or have ideas for changes that you would like to see around campus, email Emily Callon at 201106096@panthers.greenville.edu.

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