SJU Senate wants to hear from you
This is the opinion of Evan Mattson, SJU junior.
The St. John’s Senate (SJS) is a unique, autonomous student body government at SJU. Students run for boards and vie for the position they want on their respective board. President, Vice President and Trustee are decided by the SJU Senators, instead of moved to a broader election by the student body. However, everyone is elected for one sole purpose, and that is to represent the SJU student body and the CSB+SJU campuses.
Currently, I am the Vice President of the SJU Senate. My purpose is to coordinate stipend requirements for senators, serve as the liaison between SBS and SJS, plan the retreats and to keep the office in use. The last point has been a work in progress for a couple of years. In 2021, we got moved from Sexton 100 to Sexton 300 (the old JEC office).
Last year, the Senate office was rarely used by anyone because it needed to be organized and cleaned. When I got elected by the students this year, one of my goals was to make the SJS office functional again so we can use it for committee meetings, board meetings and to meet with students. While it has been a long process, it seems to be at a point where it is usable. Therefore, I think it is time to start seeing more students up there.
Every Tuesday when classes are in session, I hold office hours from 6:30–8:30 p.m. While these office hours serve as hours for me to help senators with initiatives, I invite up you all as well. Student input is essential to the role of student government—if we are not talking with you all, it is difficult to represent your thoughts in an accurate manner. If that time does not work, please feel free to reach out to the email, sjusenate@csbsju.edu, so we can set up a time to meet with you. You might even catch a senator in the office if you just walk up to Sexton 300 at any moment!
If you want to leave any feedback, feel free to go into our bio on Instagram and fill out the “Student Input” form. It is located on our website, “Saint John’s Student Senate,” as well for the non-social media users. We will see the feedback immediately, as it goes to our email. If you also want to hear what has happened in past meetings, check out our meeting minutes, located on the website.
The SJU Senate wants to listen to all voices—we are here for you. Come to our Senate meetings and speak in the open forum, leave us student input online, set up a time to talk with us or sit down with me in my office hours Tuesday night. I, along with the other senators, would love to see some new faces.