Student Government Association President Seth Leto, right, engages in a Homecoming Week preparation meeting alongside  a member of SGA’s Traditions Committee Hannah Fork. This is one of Leto’s responsibilities as SGA president. Larshell Green/The Lion’s Roar

Since last spring, senior political science major Seth Leto has led the student body as president of the Student Government Association. 

Leto was elected as SGA President on Apr. 5, 2017 and was officially sworn in at the Division for Student Affairs Convocation on Apr. 25, 2017.

He describes his first impression of SGA and the expectations he had as he began to see a possible future as a leader.

“I could see the benefit that it has for the student body and the real impact that it can really have on students and their experience,” said Leto. “We get to bring student issues to the administration. I think it’s a lot greater than people realize.”

Prior to becoming SGA President, Leto served as a senator for five semesters. In Fall 2016, Leto served as appropriations chairman. During the following semester, he served as internal affairs chairman. 

“I’ve worked in different facets of the senate,” said Leto. “I really understood how those committees work, how we vote on bills, view government documents and make sure that everyone is following the rules and doing their jobs properly.”

According to Leto, before he was sworn in, he began to make plans with his administration that consists of SGA Vice President Richard Davis Jr. and SGA Chief Justice Ali LeBlanc. Leto quickly realized that his dedication to planning ahead would have to extend to his studies and prior obligations to organizations. 

Leto said, “I’m in different directions, I’m on the executive branch of Delta Tau Delta, the fraternity that I’m in, so I have meetings with that. I’m also a part of the Interfraternity Council. It’s a lot of behind the scenes planning and working on getting things accomplished with the people on the executive branches and with the other heads of the branches, Richard and Ali. We also work a lot with our advisors, have meetings with Dr. Crain in order to look at the scale to see what SGA can do for the campus and going up to those tiers to get things accomplished.”

Through daily meetings and other timely obligations to SGA, Leto explains some of the sacrifices that he had to make as president. 

“It’s sometimes hard to keep everything under control,” said Leto. “You lose free time and personal time with your family and friends, but at the end of the day, this term in a year is so worth it. To even now look back and what we accomplished so far, I see how it was worth it.”

One of Leto’s most recent challenges as president of SGA has involved the parking changes due to construction. He shares the common misconceptions he discovered about his presidency from communicating with his fellow students.

Leto explained, “Some students think we have more power than we do, and some students don’t really think we have any say. Between those two extremes, there’s a middle ground between where I fit and what my role is. Some students tell me, we need parking fixed. As much as I can advocate for the students on that issue, that’s not something that I can fix with my signature. That is one thing that has been an interesting challenge to see if I can really fix that, but I can talk to the people who have a say so.”

SGA Vice President Richard Davis Jr. was elected alongside Leto. As Vice President, two of Davis’ responsibilities are meeting the needs and coordinating the establishment of SGA’s three standing committees: Appropriations, Internal Affairs and Student Life. 

Following the election, Davis explains what goals the executive board members were focused on. 

“One of the biggest things that the three of us tackled as soon as we got elected and sworn in was working to update our constitution and bylaws to reflect the changes that have been made over time,” said Davis.

Davis admits that the biggest lessons that he has learned thus far in his position has centered around responsibility and accountability. He has gotten into the habit of planning ahead for SGA while also serving on the executive board of his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha.

“In the fall, things are picking up a lot more,” said Davis. “There are meetings almost every day and trying to balance meetings, school and personal time is really a challenge that I face. One of the things that I have found is scheduling things in advance. I never was one to own a planner in high school, but when I got to college, I made sure to start using Google Calendar. As I got more involved, I really understood the purpose and usefulness of setting a schedule.”

Leto’s interest in politics began in junior high and expanded in high school when he became a member of SGA.

 “I had a really good civics teacher in high school, and so I really got to delve into different elements of politics and government, being civic minded and engaged in our community,” said Leto. “That really showed me that it pays off personally to be involved, and I really feel that sense of achievement when I can give back, not just to myself, but to the community. That’s why I have an interest in government and having a career in public service work. There is a real achievement you feel from helping others.”

Leto encourages those interested in SGA to get involved by visiting their page on the university’s website in order to retrieve and fill out interest forms and observe openings for branches. 

“We have three different branches, there’s three different types of jobs,” said Leto. “There’s the senate, which represent the colleges, there’s freshman senators that represent the freshman student body as a whole. The justice branch doesn’t have any openings right now, but that branch deals with parking appeals, and they deal with different kinds of hearing boards, university bylaws and our governing documents.”

Leto further explains what changes are going in the Executive Branch and in the Office of Student Outreach.

“The executive branch is full right now, but we do have a branch under that that is called Leadership Council,” said Leto. “The Office for Student Outreach under my branch will be doing different initiatives to get students involved and to get SGA involved by doing tabling events.”

The first day of the fall semester proved to be an exciting test of balance and endurance for Leto.

Leto said, “It was my birthday, so the last thing I wanted to be doing was working all day, which is what I ended up doing. I was happy to do it because it needed to get done. I went in for an early morning meeting, stayed until about 7 p.m., went to a birthday dinner and then did more work on my computer. That day was just so much going on with school starting, homecoming planning time and initial meetings. A lot of new things were happening on that one day. I think if I can get through that day, I can get through the rest of this year, because that day was pretty tough.”

SGA Chief Justice Ali LeBlanc explains why she values being a member of the organization. LeBlanc became involved in SGA as a first semester freshman when she was elected as a freshman senator. During her sophomore year, she became the associate chief justice.

“I want to give back to Southeastern in any way I can,” said LeBlanc. “I feel like I owe so much to this university for giving me the opportunity to grow as a person and to accomplish things I never would have imagined doing.”

Although his term as SGA president will not end until Spring 2018, Leto has reflected on his best moments in office so far.

“The excitement the day of being sworn in was great, but it’s nothing compared to whenever we can achieve getting something done for the students,” said Leto, when asked what his best day as president has been. “There have been many great days during the semesters of making strides in the right direction like having really productive meetings and getting things accomplished. It really is a lifestyle for the year of the term that you have to live.”