Hilary Legge, ‘Doah Managing Editor
March 6, 2013

‘Doah photo courtesy of Cathy Kuehner

Following the impeachment of SGA President Nigel Huckle on Feb. 21, Vice President for Undergraduate Affairs Spencer King is taking over the position for the rest of the semester. There was no formal ceremony marking the change. When King was sworn in as vice president, part of his duties were to fulfill the role of president should the president be unable to do so, so a second swearing-in was deemed unnecessary by the executive council.

The SGA is now hoping to take advantage of the heightened level of student interest this situation has caused, in order to move forward on new initiatives for the school.

“This has given us the momentum to move forward at a rapid pace,” said King. “The executive council is working closely to make this a smooth transition. We will all have to take on more work to make up for one less member, but we have a fantastic team and I have no doubt that we will be able to finish out this year to great success.”

Currently, there are five major initiatives on which the SGA is moving forward. The first thing on the agenda is an audit of the security on campus. Many delegates expressed concerns about security following several incidents last semester, including the U.I. thefts that occurred over break. Two delegates then worked to develop a resolution to have an outside company come in and audit every aspect of S.U. security. This will be discussed further at the SGA meeting tomorrow night, March 7, at 6 p.m. in the Borden Student Associations Room of the Brandt Student Center. The meeting is open to all students.

Aside from that, the SGA is also working on evaluating the smoking policy, to possibly create designated smoking areas and discuss laying out a timeline where the campus would eventually become smoke-free. They are also creating a Student Organizations Commission that would provide needed resources to organizations on campus, as well as ensure that policies and guidelines are being followed. Internally, they are also looking to evaluate and revise their constitution, and to come up with a strategic plan for the organization that would lay out objectives and goals for the next 3-5 years.

Elections are tentatively scheduled for early April. This would allow newly elected officers to shadow the current administration for the last month of school, in order to create a smoother transition into next year.