New SGA President and VP Inaugurated
After a close race in the Student Government Association (SGA) election, Isaac Kantola and Abbye Morgan were inaugurated as SGA president and vice president April 25.
The ceremony, attended by students and faculty members, commenced at 5 p.m. Among the faculty were Mark Hine, the senior vice president for Student Affairs; Kathy Schultz, the director of SGA; and Louis Cambeletta, the vice president of Auxiliary Services.
Hine opened in prayer and spoke highly of former SGA President Daniel Hostetter and Vice President Braden Daniels.
“It has been a real joy for the last two years to work with Daniel and Braden,” Hine said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with these two gentlemen. They truly have the best interest of our students and our university at heart.”
Daniel Hostetter (President) and Braden Daniels (VP) have officially passed the titles of SGA President and VP over. | Photo by Kristina Smith
Hine challenged the newly inaugurated president and vice president to not only fill the shoes of Hostetter and Daniels but to also surpass their achievements. He urged them to set the bar higher and continue the legacy of student advocacy and university advancement.
During their term, Hostetter and Daniels collaborated with President Dondi Costin and Hine on several occasions. They attended Board of Trustees meetings, initiated the Campus Safety walk, reintroduced Town Hall meetings, implemented the residential tailgate and started research on honor colleges at various universities to elevate Liberty University’s current Honors Program into an official college.
“We’ve felt satisfied in passing the torch off to Isaac and Abbye,” Hostetter said. “We trust their leadership and who they are going to be for this school, and we are pretty satisfied and thrilled with the things our team has been able to get done these past two years.”
Student Chief Justice Caleb Webb conducted the oath where Kantola and Morgan were sworn in to their positions.
“When I was a freshman — it was my spring semester — I joined the House of Delegates,” Morgan said. “Then I met a couple of senators and thought it would be cool to be a senator over the whole School of Health Sciences. Last year, I ran for senate president, and I won, and now I’ve been serving the last year as senate president.”
During her term in the senate, Morgan ran for president her sophomore year and again in 2023. After a year as senate president, Kantola asked Morgan to campaign as his vice president a week before the election.
Abbye Morgan takes the oath to be the new SGA Vice President. | Photo by Kristina Smith
“It was the craziest God moment ever,” Morgan said. “As soon as I joined, everything fell into place, and it was really just God’s hand over the whole thing.”
Kantola transferred to Liberty University in Spring 2023 and served as SGA’s communications director for a year before receiving God’s calling to run for president.
“College is a place to be formed into a certain type of person,” Kantola said.
Kantola’s administration hopes to give commuter students more access to the library and the gym during convocation and give students better dietary accommodations.
“When I look at this place (Liberty University) and I look at its history from 1971 until now, I see a continued pattern of God picking people out and doing incredible things with Liberty University,” Kantola said.
Trinity is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for the Liberty Champion