The Student Government Association brought back committees and implemented two new committees this year to give students a voice on campus for dining and spiritual life.
There were five committees: spiritual life, dining services, diversity, equity and inclusion, health and wellness and sustainability. These committees met every Wednesday at 11 a.m., and ran for four consecutive weeks, from Jan. 24, to Feb. 7, according to SGA President Michael Sugimoto.
The first week, all students were welcome to join and plan for ideas; the second week, administration joined the committees to hear students’ ideas and provide support; the third week was for drafting resolutions and the final, additional meeting was utilized to present resolutions to the SGA committee for approval but was not mandatory for all committee members, Myers Mentzer, SGA Executive Vice President said.
Sugimoto said the meetings were a great way to hear from many students on campus.
“I think the importance of these committees is giving everybody an equal chance, platform and space to make their voice heard,” Sugimoto said.
Spiritual Life Committee
Jillian George, first-year and chair of the Spiritual Life Committee said her committee is new to Pepperdine, and their purpose is to find how they can serve students’ spiritually on campus.
“Spiritual Life Committee is just: How can we make students’ spiritual lives better on campus?” George said.
George said being in the committee has been very exciting because she has had the opportunity to meet various people.
“I’ve been able to meet lots of different people — a lot of girls from my grade that I have never been able to meet,” George said.
George said being part of the committee has been a positive experience for her.
“This is my first time being able to combine my SGA and spiritual life, which is so exciting,” George said.
She said the committee is important to her because she is passionate about religion and students’ spiritual community.
“This committee is really special to me because I want to make sure that all students can have access to growing in their spiritual communities,” George said.
The committee discussed ideas with their official administration representative, Tim Spivey, associate vice president of Spiritual Life, George said.
Through the first three committee meetings, George said her committee finally drafted a resolution. She said the committee wants the Hub for Spiritual Life to adopt a program in which, for six weeks, they shuttle first-year students and anyone who wants to grow spiritually to different churches to find their church.
“It’d be six weeks, six different churches, different denominations, so people can understand not only what each denomination is but find their church home,” George said.
George said, coming from Texas to Pepperdine, she did not know about any spiritual community or church that she could join. The resolution the committee is proposing would be beneficial to students having the same experience and not knowing where to start to get more involved in a place of worship.
“Having this program will make that a lot easier, especially if you’re a freshman like me who doesn’t have a car,” George said.
Dining Services Committee
The Dining Services Committee is also new and “serves to gather feedback and provide recommendations on the quality and satisfaction of students with food services on campus,” according to SGA’s Instagram.
Ellie Scoggins, sophomore and chair of the Dining Services Committee, said she chose to have a leadership role in the committee because she felt dining services are important for students.
“It [her leadership role for the Dining Services Committee] would make the most impact on students,” Scoggins said. “Everyone has to eat.”
Scoggins said she finds value in her role as a committee leader for Dining Services.
“I feel like it’d be really valuable to make sure that the food we’re getting is of high quality and it is meeting the needs of people who are all over Pepperdine,” Scoggins said.
She said the Dining Services Committee is new, and there was no precedent for the Dining Service Committee prior to this year.
“It’s really interesting to see what could happen in the future regarding dining services and what leniency or what potential control SGA could have,” Scoggins said. “I know it’s a big concern for a lot of students.”
Scoggins said there is a mix of people in her committee, and it has been a nice experience getting to know them.
“It’s really great to see everyone collaborate,” Scoggins said.
Scoggins said they thank Lisa Stone, Executive Director of Business Services and official administration representative for the Dining Services Committe for her time in letting them discuss their suggestions and ideas for her to take into consideration.
“She helped us really narrow down our goals,” Scoggins said.
Scoggins said the committee is trying to get transferable meal points due to the food insecurity that arises among students at the end of the semesters when they run out of meal points.
Scoggins said she hopes the committee can create changes on campus with their idea.
Dining Services members brought up the issue of dining hall hours not working for students, according to previous Graphic reporting.
“I’m really hoping that SGA sees the validity and wanting to make sure that meal points are transferable or at least accessible to more people,” Scoggins said.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Committee
The Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Committee “serves to create an inclusive environment on Seaver College Campus,” according to SGA’s Instagram.
Pinn Jingkaojai, senior and chair of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, said she has been drawn to the leadership role in her committee alongside her partner, Alyssa Williams.
Jingkaojai said she knows what it feels like to have to start over in a new community and feeling out of place.
“I love creating space for people to embrace their differences,” Jingkaojai said. “Especially in a community — that is what binds a community together.”
Jingkaojai said, through the weeks, committee members brought many great ideas but have narrowed them down to one goal.
“Ours is hopefully going to be around ASL, especially ASL at Pepperdine, as a language requirement or a waiver,” Jingkaojai said.
The committee met with Dr. Terra Hall, the official administration representative and associate dean of student affairs to discuss their ideas.
Jingkaojai said two of the committee leaders are fluent in sign language, so it was awesome to hear what they had to say about it.
“It’d be a really cool opportunity for students to learn that language,” Jingkaoji said.
Health and Wellness Committee
The Health and Wellness Committee “serves to ensure that Pepperdine University services meet the health, wellness and mental welfare of the student body. This includes, but is not limited to, educating and bringing awareness to issues relating to student well-being,” according to SGA’s Instagram.
Mentzer said the Health and Wellness Committee decided to work on bringing more awareness to resources that Pepperdine already has for students.
”It’s not necessarily a need for the program, but more of a need for marketing,” Mentzer said.
Myers said that the committee will be proposing the resolution of a “Week of Wellness” in the fall. This week would have collaborations with SWAB, the Counseling Center, Title IX and other organizations.
“We already have these great ideas, and students would just have better exposure to them,” Mentzer said.
This resolution could be an opportunity for students to get to know the administration for the Health and Wellness organizations, especially because the administration is trying to find better ways to connect with students, Mentzer said.
Mentzer said the committee and administration have both asked the question: “How can we bring more awareness to these already great campaigns that we have?”
Sustainability Committee
The Sustainability Committee “serves to ensure that Pepperdine University promotes the best practices and commitments to sustainably maintain campus. This includes, but is not limited to, educating and bringing awareness to issues relating to sustainability,” according to the SGA Instagram.
Mentzer said that she was not planning on having a sustainability committee, but junior and Chair of Sustainability, Alexandria Archer was a true advocate on sustainability awareness.
In the Jan. 31 committee meeting, the Sustainability Committee had the chance to collaborate with Ricky Eldridge, the director for the Center of Sustainability and official administration representative to discuss important ideas regarding sustainability on campus.
“They were mainly just talking about different things within Pepperdine such as composting, recycling—different ways that we can really be reducing our carbon footprint here on campus, especially with us being so close to the ocean,” Mentzer said.
Mentzer said Eldrige’s informational contribution to the second meeting helped educate students on the topic.
“He came and really gave students a deeper background about Pepperdine with sustainability and ways that are practical, efficient and that would work for students to implement,” Mentzer said.
Mentzer said the Sustainability Committee will be presenting two resolutions.
Though the committees have ended, they will all be presenting the resolutions they have curated at the Feb. 14 SGA meeting.
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Contact Viviana Diaz via email: viviana.diaz@pepperdine.edu
