Oglethorpe’s Student Government Association Holds Semester Town Hall

Earlier this month, SGA held their 2018 Spring Semester Town Hall in the first floor of the TLCC, in an attempt to increase communication between the student body and their class representatives. Offering ice cream as one of the event’s selling points, class representatives sought to increase student participation in SGA affairs, and to receive feedback about their performance from constituents.

Armed with pre-written questions and “cootie catchers” to break the ice, class representatives engaged with students in the hopes of addressing any particular needs of the campus community. Some of the most common concerns expressed by OU students were related to the reduced the amount of out-of-campus events, issues with communication between SGA and the student body, and TLCC hours.

Turnout for the event was significantly lower than for SGA’s Fall 2017 Town Hall. Sophomore Senator Margaret Light described the situation as “not the turnout we were pushing for”. While a small group of students stopped by SGA’s table to participate in the event, the smaller than expected turnout exemplified the difficulties that the organization has faced recently to connect with the campus community.

Nevertheless, Ms. Light highlighted the success of the event at its core purpose, stating that “even with the turnout that we had, we got quality feedback, we got what we needed, and that’s good”. She also emphasized the importance of student participation for SGA’s functioning, expressing that if students “don’t express their views and concerns, we’ll just sit around and do nothing all year”.

Did you miss the Town Hall but would like to voice your opinion? Go to Open Forum on SGA’s weekly meetings every Thursday at 6 PM and help build a better campus environment for all students.