Opinions Editor
On Wednesday night, November 30 over 50 students, representing the various and diverse student run clubs on campus filed into the Dodge Ballroom in the Richard B. Flynn Campus Union. They were all there for the monthly Student Organizations meeting. The atmosphere was light and relaxed as friends chatted and joked. Presiding over this group was the Student Government Association’s Vice President of Student Affairs Taline Abrahamian.
“This is our fourth and final meeting of the semester,” said Vice President Abrahamiam. “They’re good, actually Carl (Stiles, Director of Student Activities) is getting really good feedback because they’re strictly like less than half an hour and people really like that.”
Abrahamian heads the Student Organization Committee which oversees every student club on campus. They make sure that clubs follow their constitutions and that everything is done according to SGA policy. These monthly meetings provide an opportunity for clubs and the committee to connect and share ideas.
“That was my first one,” said Jenna Carigan, Treasurer of the Exercise Science Club. “It was good they kept it nice and short, got to the point tried to make it fun. We just became a club in the middle of last year so we’re pretty new at this but (the Student Affairs Committee) do a good job.”
The meeting was indeed fast and too the point as Abrahamian moved through the necessary material quickly. The meeting consisted of updates on upcoming events, business matters, and voting for the club of the semester. Abrahamian and her colleagues kept the mood light and did there best to not let the meeting drag on.
In addition to running meetings, the committee must work with each group wishing to become an official club on campus, meeting with groups of interested students and going over SGA guidelines and rules. Clubs then must present before the Student Government Association General Council to get approved. Clubs that meet with the General councils approval are allocated a small amount of funds and have a year test period to prove that their idea is a viable one.
At the meeting on Wednesday night representatives from almost every club were present. Clubs represented included the Campus Activities Board, the Exercise Science Club, Education Club, and the YMCA Club. Each club is supposed to send two of its members to these meetings.
As the semester wraps up the SGA has one event coming up, which is the Holiday Bazaar. On December 13 and 15 several clubs and outside vendors will set up booths in the Campus Union and will provide on campus Christmas shopping for students. The event will also feature live musicians.
Josh Ernst may be reached at jernst@springfieldcollege.edu