The Student Government Association (SGA) Big Three for 2023 dive into their elected roles. 

President Lacey Johnson, Vice President Matt Matthews and Chief Justice Aaliyah Muhammad have begun working on their initiatives to make campus a safe, all-inclusive space for students. The Big Three said their main focus is advocating for students across campus. 

“We need to start reaching out to students and meeting them where they are at because sometimes bare necessities are often overlooked. It is all of our goals to meet them where they are and let them know that we are here for them,” Johnson said.

Some of the initiatives the Big Three are working on include, but are not limited to: 

• Bringing back Lion 2 Lion
• Introduce a Town Hall  
• Fully fund period products on main campus 
• Gender-inclusive housing
• Maintaining and possibly growing scholarships 
• Ensuring campus safety.

First is Johnson’s Lion 2 Lion revival. Lion 2 Lion’s purpose is to help incoming freshmen transition into being leaders. 

“The meetings will be bi-weekly and we will talk to the students about what it means to be a leader on a college campus. We will go over several different topics like what is professionalism in a workplace, what does it mean to lead, etc. There will also be fun activities to help the group bond during meetings,” she said.

Through Lion 2 Lion, students will have the opportunity to participate in SGA by helping with events, being present in meetings and working with all three branches of SGA. 

“I wanted to really put a lot of effort into this program for freshmen so they can be part of a community with growing leaders as well as give young student leaders a place of belonging and growth,” Johnson explained. 

Leadership is also present in Johnson’s second initiative: introducing a Town Hall on campus. 

Johnson said, “The purpose of the Town Hall is to bring student leaders of organizations across campus together. It’s also to promote resource awareness across campus which is part of my platform as president.” 

Next are Matthews’ initiatives, starting with fully funded period products on the main campus. 

“Last semester, the initial idea and legislation came to fruition. I am just wishing to continue this initiative,” Matthews said. 

According to Matthews, the SGA Senate passed legislation to fund the initiative and SGA leadership is working on the logistics to get it implemented as soon as possible. 

Matthews is also a member of the Lavender Lions and brought up the idea of gender-inclusive housing in an auxiliary board meeting on May 16. As a result, this fall, a pilot program for gender-inclusive housing will begin. For more information on gender-inclusive housing, check out our previous article.  

His last initiative involves scholarships. Southeastern has a plethora of scholarships, and SGA Big Three would like to maintain and expand them. 

Matthews stated they are maintaining all scholarships, specifically the hardship scholarship, and possibly growing them. He explained SGA feels there is a current need to help provide additional financial support via the scholarship for international students since they have fewer opportunities for federal financial aid. 

Johnson said, “We are also going to help fund the transportation of international students from the airport to campus.”

Next is ensuring campus safety which involves privacy and security, both of which Muhammad is working on.

Muhammad stated she is working on concerns about the lack of privacy in the University Police Department office, specifically with the blue phone, because those waiting in line can hear the conversation with the dispatcher. 

The primary cause was the office being merged with Transportation Services; however, there are now signs present to differentiate the two spaces. 

“The main area I was trying to solve was the privacy aspect. Chief Beckner added a tablet in the lobby area that students can walk up to and text message directly to the dispatch office, even if it’s just to say ‘I need to speak with an officer,’” Muhammad said. 

To see the new signage and tablet, check out this video from UPD. 

She also mentioned this is not the end of this project, but only the beginning as Chief Beckner is pushing for more signage on campus as well and they will have many new things to implement across campus to get more involved with students. 

A safety walk is another protocol Muhammad is molding to ensure students’ safety at night. 

“We are the safest campus and we want to keep it the safest,” Johnson said. 

The Chief Justice is also responsible for parking, so Muhammad wants to create a digestible parking document. 

“We want to create a document that is clear and to the point about parking rules and regulations. We are trying to make it as detailed and as explained as possible for students, but short,” she said. 

The SGA Big Three are excited to implement their initiatives to make campus a safe, all-inclusive space where advocating for students is the main focus. 

The Big Three are very diverse as they are all different majors and leaders in other organizations on campus. Matthews said they all have different specialties and he thinks they are going to work very well together. 

Johnson said, “We are like the roots of a tree; We all grow into the same beautiful tree, but we are attached to all the strong roots around campus. We are such a diverse Big Three and we are so lucky to be a diverse Big Three. ”

They (the Big Three) invite all students to come to them anytime as they are a resource for the student body. They reassure students that they have an open door policy, elaborated that no idea or concern is small and they would be honored to make a plan or take steps to assist in any way they can.