The Student Government Association (SGA) held their weekly senate meeting Oct. 16 in Thornton Administrative Center (TAC) covering upcoming campus events before breaking off into research groups.
With enough members to hit the required quorum, SGA Vice President Micheal Sugimoto opened by sharing multiple events happening on campus for the one-year anniversary of the Pacific Coast Highway crash that tragically took the lives of the four Pepperdine students: Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams.
Senior Class Senator Vivianna Hernandez added more information about the Wings and Waves of Achievement: An Autumn Carnival happening Sunday, Oct. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Alumni Park.
“It is important for us as student leaders to be there for our community in this time of remembrance,” Sugimoto said.
Sugimoto and SGA President Myers Mentzer recently represented Pepperdine at the National Student Government Summit in Washington D.C., Sugimoto said. They hosted an impactful break-out session on resilience in leadership amidst a campus-wide tragedy, SGA Advisor Danielle Minke said.
After the official meeting ended, senate members gathered into research groups to work on upcoming student surveys aimed at making more lasting and relevant changes on campus.
A student life survey, focused on addressing loneliness at Pepperdine, is seeking to “bring a closer-knit community, ” Sophomore Senator Zayd Salahieh said.
Hernandez said she is also working to address the causes of loneliness at Pepperdine.
“We’re seeking to determine if campus location and the number of clubs and organizations a student is involved in are correlated to their level of loneliness,” Hernandez said.
Senior Class Senator Sarah Iglesias said she is helping create a survey to determine the relevance and enforcement of carpool parking for commuter students on campus.
In response to Pepperdine’s dropping in national rankings, a university development research group was formed to help “bridge the gap between students and administrators,” Stephen Weinstock, the General Judicial Council (GJC) director, said.
The research group is seeking to determine the causes of rankings dropping, seeking to investigate both Pepperdine’s policies and changes in ranking parameters, Junior Class Senator Jack Buell said.
“This is the first year we’re doing university development,” Buell said. “Our hope is that university development remains year after year and that we can make a genuine impact for students.”
All of the research groups are looking to improve student life on campus, Sugimoto said.
“We’re just looking to have open communication and transparency at the end of the day,” Weinstock said.
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Email H.L. McCullough: hubert.mccullough@pepperdine.edu
