After running uncontested and winning last week’s Student Government Association election with 100 percent of the vote, Jessamyn Reichmann, sociology junior and president-elect, and Freedom Richardson, political science junior and vice president-elect, said they are already strategizing about the year to come.

“I think the most important part is actually right now before the summer period, really grabbing all the information from current members, current faculty members and our supervisors,” Reichmann said.

Richardson and Reichmann were elected by 231 votes on OrgSync, according to SGA, representing a little over 8 percent of the undergraduate-student population. But Richardson said that their lack of opposition in the election has not affected their determination.

“While we faced no formal challenger, I continue to reiterate that we do have formal challenges,” Richardson said

SGA Organization

The pair campaigned on a three-point plan focused on the organizational structuring of SGA, campus beautification and utilization, and the development of personal potential. They said that in their first 50 days in office, they plan on setting out a clear list of goals that the student body can hold them accountable to.

Richardson, who served this year as a senator-at-large, said that his goals for the first 50 days of overseeing the senate include livestreaming meetings and ensuring that SGA is following the regulations of the constitution.

“Right now the executive branch bylaws as well as the Student Government Association bylaws require that our director of communications reports before the senate each month. It has yet to happen once this semester,” Richardson said. “Still to this day, the administration has yet to report before the senate.”

Earlier this semester, Richardson introduced a measure that was recently passed in order to put a timetable on executive decisions and hold the executive branch accountable, standards he said he hopes he and Reichmann are held to next school year.

“In the event that something isn’t acted upon in a certain amount of time, it becomes law. In the event that something is vetoed, it requires the executive branch to report before the senate the following meeting explaining why it failed and how it is we can work forward,” Richardson said.

Cabinet Appointees

The pair received 13 applications for executive positions on their cabinet and Reichmann said they are in the process of speaking with applicants. Executive appointees have to be selected and notified of their positions by April 3 so they have time to go through senate confirmation, a new process that was instituted this spring.

“There was this new piece of legislation introduced by Chief Justice Rana (Thabata) to ensure that if cabinet secretaries are fired or relieved of their duties that they can go before the senate if they would like to challenge their dismissal,” Richardson said. “A part of that, a deal I brokered with her in order to pass it through the senate because it needed a two-thirds vote, was making sure they were also confirmed.”

Communication

Richardson said that a fundamental change he and Reichmann want to enact is communication both within SGA and between the representative body and its constituents.

“So much of what is done is so unknown or hidden in the woodworks and all of that has to change,” Richardson said. “It’s a lack of communication, a lack of strategy”

The pair created a transition Instagram account to communicate with the public and said they are planning on formulating press releases and increasing the publicity of SGA meetings as well.

“Really we are just making sure that when we are talking about cohesion with our executive branch and senate that we are also talking about cohesion with the SGA, its organizations and other students here on campus,” Reichmann said.

She highlighted her desire for potential co-programming opportunities between organizations that may not usually be thought of, such as synergy between panhellenic council and the black sororities and fraternities on campus.

Reichmann also mentioned that it’s the “small simple stuff that you honestly would overlook that kind of trickles down into attitudes and tones here.”

When it comes to her presidency, which will involve being the student representative to administrative groups like the University Senate, Reichmann said she sees an opportunity to inform students about what goes on behind closed doors.

“I think what I want to do is empower them through knowledge,” Reichmann said. “When you get upset and you look at the symptoms of what’s wrong with Loyola, here’s the connection aspect. It’s about really bringing transparency and light.”