The Student Government Association serves Oklahoma Christian University in many ways; however, much of what SGA does remains invisible to the typical student.
This year, SGA advocated for students, made care packages for sports teams and underwent major documentation rewrites in addition to their higher profile activities like sponsoring events and bringing in food trucks.
“We try to support our sports teams a lot which probably goes unseen,” Executive Treasurer Teagan Henson said. “Whenever we know that they’re about to start traveling to go play wherever they’re playing, we send them with travel bags and stuff like that with snacks and everything like that.”
SGA’s academic committee meets with important school faculty like Provost Brian Starr and Vice President for Administration John Hermes to collect feedback from students and recruit for events like Eagle for a Day.
“Our academic committee meets with a lot of the teachers and meets with our provost,” Henson said. “They talk about changes or things that we think that the student body as a whole likes about the academic side of school or dislikes about it.”
Henson is graduating this year, making him the only SGA executive not seeking re-election.
“There’s a few people who are running for my position,” Henson said. “I’ve kind of talked through the position with them and given them the expectations. After elections are done, I’ll train them and teach them how to take over the position.”
Henson encourages his fellow students to dive into activities on campus and seize leadership opportunities.
“Jump in; take advantage of all the things on campus,” Henson said. “Like, I’ve become an executive or a director of Spring Sing, of SGA, Homecoming, club, Earn Your Wings. I’m super involved in a lot of different things, and I think it’s made my college experience so much better than if I didn’t do those things.”
In addition to serving students campuswide through events and representation, SGA focused on internal reorganization this year. The SGA Constitution has received major rewrites according to President Ashtyn Hutchison’s plans.
“Going into this year, one thing that I really wanted to do was update the Constitution so that it was able to be followed,” Hutchison said. “Throughout time, you steer away from things. I went through and the SGA voted on changes so that we could uphold our Constitution and so that it’s accurate to what we’re doing.”
The changes aimed to future-proof the SGA so future students can keep it running smoothly.
“As turnover happens and we get new people in office, it will allow them to read and understand what the SGA does clearly,” Hutchison said. “Some predecessors don’t leave clear instructions or it’s just not the most helpful. The Constitution is laid out now to where it can be helpful to run the SGA effectively.”
Hutchison said students can look forward to more food trucks and the annual Easter egg hunt as the semester progresses.
Starting April 2, SGA will hide four to five eggs around campus. Any curious students who manage to locate and turn one of them in will receive a prize.
Past prizes include high-value items such as Beats headphones, a Kindle and an iPad.
Hutchison will run for SGA president again next year, but offered some advice for other students who may run for office.
“Just be a happy face that people get to see on campus,” Hutchison said. “Whether they know your name or not, they recognize your face and that you’re present. If you’re going to be a president of your school, people should recognize you.”
For frequent updates on SGA events, students can follow their official Instagram.
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