A fresh start

New SGA class officers get elected, share their plans for the school year

The results of the student officer elections came in Sept. 21, electing a new president and vice president for each class this academic year.

Elected to office were seniors Alex Ehrich and Ellie McKay, juniors Nate Nickerson and Darrian Graves, sophomores Caleb Johnson and Jared Cave and freshmen Darius Hanson and Gage Taylor.

“Students running for Class Officer positions are uniquely situated to hear the questions and concerns of their peers and bring that to Student Government,” Student Body Vice President Luke Welgoss said.

“The primary responsibilities of class officers are to actively participate in the representative branch.”

The terms of the students last the full academic year.

“One of the challenges class officers may face is hearing concerns from students and balancing what is realistic with the university administration,” Welgoss said.

“In some cases, certain ideas may be too expensive or too difficult to implement.”

The students elected all have plans and goals they will try to accomplish during their term.

Hanson and Taylor are looking to improve the standard of service at Liberty.

“We want to focus on service. We want to be a class defined by service and a school defined by service,” Hanson said.

“We plan on working very closely in the community of Lynchburg and around Virginia. I know there are already organizations in place for that. There’s always room for improvement, I want to continue to work with them, and vocalize and rally behind them.”

Johnson and Cave are looking to make modifications on campus by improving commuter student’s experience.

“One of the things we want to do is put lockers in DeMoss for commuter students,” Johnson said.

“I feel like they could be supported much more than they are. They’re a big group here at Liberty and I can’t wait to hear more of their thoughts.”

They are also looking to engage students with more focus testing for their majors, a way to help students find out which majors would be suitable for them based upon a set of questions.

“I think if we push for the focus testing a little more, people will be able to find their majors much faster than they are, saving time and money and years here at Liberty,” Johnson said.

New student officials are encouraging students to approach them with the questions, concerns and issues.

“I want them to be able to come up to me with their problems,” Ehrich said.

“I want them to know more than anything that we’re just here to serve, and that we didn’t do this so we could just have our name in a book or to go to some meeting. Everything that we’re doing, we’re doing to serve the student body better.”

The student officials are trying to make themselves as available as possible.

“My email is always on, and my phone is always on ringer, so people can contact me at any time. I’m not afraid to come out to a meeting at two o’clock in the morning,” Taylor said.

According to the officials, there is much to look forward to this academic year.

“We are really excited about this position,” McKay said.

“We are not only looking forward to working hard, but also enjoying our time here and finishing up this year well.”

Panyard is a news reporter.