With Fall 2024 classes starting right around the corner, students should know their fellow classmates who represent them in the Student Government Association. 

The SGA elections last spring produced a new Big Three, as Kyle Hidalgo was elected as president, Levi Spiers as vice president and Rosemary Matthews as chief justice. Each candidate has their own purpose for involving themselves in SGA and their own initiatives they want to accomplish while in office. 

Hidalgo is a junior political science major with a minor in economics. He joined SGA in Fall 2022 and has prior experience as a justice in the judicial branch and as a senator of the College of Honors and Excellence in the legislative branch. 

“I want to make sure the system of SGA works and does what it needs to, where our positions are going out, representing the university and making sure nothing falls to the wayside. We want to be scheduling meetings with deans and department heads to get ideas from them that we can pass as legislation,” Hidalgo said. 

Some of SGA and Hidalgo’s biggest initiatives are planning Southeastern’s Centennial celebration and bringing back the Homecoming dance. SGA wants to make the events ‘bigger and better’ than previous years. This includes the introduction of a new monument to commemorate Southeastern’s 100th anniversary. 

Senior business administration major Levi Spiers said he’s excited to represent Southeastern as VP this year, where he’ll focus on organizational outreach as his initiative and “making sure students know the resources they have.” 

Spiers has been an SGA member for three semesters. Starting in January 2023 as a senator in the legislative branch, he worked his way up to the appropriations committee. He was then the internal affairs chair before winning the VP position. 

“The vice president serves as president of the student senate. This is where a lot of the pen-to-paper initiatives get done. In order to do everything that the executive branch does, [bills] must go through legislation with the senate, which is similar to the United States Senate. It’s the most representative part of the student government,” Spiers said. 

Newly elected chief justice Rosemary Matthews is a senior majoring in art who started her involvement with SGA due to her inspiration from founding the Lavender Lions organization and her dedication to uplifting fellow students. Matthews was intrigued by the work of her brother, former chief justice Matt Matthews, in SGA. She started her career in student government as a senator before becoming a justice.

“The chief justice, for the interest of the majority of students, oversees student appeals, from conduct to parking. Within SGA, I facilitate any rulings or conversation that comes about our governing documents,” Matthews said. 

Pushing education is a major initiative for Matthews, as she said she would like to make sure students know the rules and regulations so operations can flow as efficiently as possible. Matthews and Spiers will be working hand in hand to reorganize and restructure the governing documents to be clearer and better serve the student body. 

For more information regarding SGA, you can visit them at the Student Union Annex in room 2302 or call 985-549-3805. Student senate meetings are held on Mondays at 5 p.m. in Fayard Hall room 107.