LEADING THE WAY

2018-19 SGA officers say their doors are always open

The new Student Government Association officers of East Carolina University are ready to take on the new school year with plans to improve the experience of being a Pirate.

Student Body President Jordan Koonts and Vice President Lillie Rhodes focused on advocacy for all students as a priority in their election campaign this past February.

SGA president Jordan Koonts.

“It’s not just undergraduate students that we are here to represent, but every single student,” Koonts said.

Graduate students, medical students, doctoral students and many others may have felt overlooked in the past, but Koonts said that won’t be the case this year.

“Those students in the past have almost been an untapped area, and we would like to increase heavily our involvement with them,” Koonts said.

To achieve that goal, the officers plan to increase name recognition and the utilization of SGA and appoint qualified liaisons to as many student groups and organizations as possible.

Koonts has been involved with student leadership for the past two years through the encouragement of 2016-17 SGA President Ryan Beason.

“He first got me involved with the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities, and that drove my drive for student leadership,” Koonts said.

Rhodes also wants to focus on advocacy for students, especially raising awareness for mental health and sexual assault. In 2015, SGA and student affairs created a program called 15,000 Pirates that is solely focused on mental health awareness, and Rhodes says she wants to make that more prominent this year.

“Our doors are always open,” Rhodes said.

Colin Johnson is serving as the SGA’s speaker of the assembly and wants students to realize how important SGA can be for them.

“Not many know this, but included in every student’s tuition is a fee to SGA which makes us responsible to the student body,” Johnson said.

Other officers are Jessie Jefferys, secretary; Noah S. Shuler, attorney general; and Haley Creef, treasurer.

The new officers and assembly members said they are excited for the upcoming year and look forward to working in the SGA office, which will be located in the new Student Center.

From left, Lillie Rhodes, vice president; Jessie Jefferys, secretary; Colin Johnson, speaker of the assembly; and Haley Creef, treasurer.