After a year under Khaled Badr’s presidency, the university looks different than it did before he took over as SGA president.

The outgoing SGA president, Badr, has been in office since he was elected last April and will remain a part of SGA during a transitional phase. On April 10, an official procedure took place that swore in the current president of Loyola’s SGA, Jasmine Barnes, in the Octavia Room.

This past year during his presidency, Badr made sustainability pushes a theme.

According to Shannon Donaldson, outgoing vice president of communication, sustainability has been Badr’s single most significant accomplishment during his presidency.

“I think he has definitely worked hard to take steps toward having a more sustainable campus that many past members of SGA talked about doing, but maybe never actually completed,” Donaldson said.

Badr said he believes he has had a successful presidency.

“I know that by the end of my presidency, I have done everything in my power to better the lives of students on campus, make a smoother transition for the next SGA administration, and I will be very happy with what I have accomplished with all of the obstacles that we had this year,” Badr said.

Food prices on campus were another focus of his presidency, he said.

“When people expressed their concerns about food prices, I started meeting with dining services that led to many changes in food prices,” Badr said.

Badr said he believes that campaign promises are crucial to uphold.

“I personally think that it is extremely important to keep campaign promises. With that being said, sometimes things do not work out the way we hope for them to, but trying to keep those promises and trying to achieve the goals is the main important thing,” Badr said.

Some of the campaign promises Badr made included the shift to environmentally friendly light bulbs across the entire Loyola campus and the liaison program, according to an article published in The Maroon in April 2012.

Mara Steven, outgoing SGA chief justice, said the environmentally friendly light bulbs and the liaison program have not been implemented as far as she knows.

Regarding the liaison program, “We don’t have that policy to my knowledge,” Steven said.

Regarding the sustainable light bulbs, Steven said, “If I am not mistaken, that wouldn’t fall under SGA jurisdiction.”

While Badr has made some changes on campus, some observers see Badr as a hands-off president.

Christopher Sauer, music industry senior, said he has not seen Badr make many accomplishments during his presidency this year with the exception of one purchase.

“I guess we did get toasters outside of CC’s that’s probably the best thing he has done,” Sauer said.

Martin Quintero-Fehr, SGA senator and political science sophomore, said he believes Badr “lacked presence” when compared to Michael Falotico, outgoing SGA executive vice president.

“Michael was more of a central leader this year in SGA,” Quintero-Fehr said, “[Khaled’s presidency] left much to be desired.”

Other members of the Loyola community disagree.

Alisha Bell, SGA senator and business freshman, said she believes Badr has done a great job as SGA president.

“The goal this year was to reconnect with the students,” Bell said.

Donaldson and Quintero-Fehr said they both believe the next administration can learn from this administration, but they disagree on the aftermath of Badr’s presidency.

“I hope that future SGA administrations continue to keep the momentum that Khaled has kept up and take it even further,” Donaldson said.

Lucy Dieckhaus can be reached at [email protected]