The Student Government Association (SGA) held their first meeting of the semester Sept. 25 in Thornton Administrative Center (TAC).
With every senate member in attendance, SGA President Myers Mentzer opened by going over a recent meeting with university administration officials, relating to parking citations. University officials are looking at reducing the amount of potential citations from 70 to 20, with fines increasing for students parking in the residential director’s parking spot to $250, Mentzer said.
Stephen Weinstock, the General Judicial Council (GJC) director, swore in all elected and appointed students. Julian Mola, vice president of Administration, presented the fall 2025 SGA budget for approval.
“We want to be good stewards of our money and resources provided to us,” Mentzer noted.
The fall semester started with a $148,662 budget, Mola said. The budget income accounts for the student paid campus life fee and a $40,000 roll over from the spring semester, Mola said. Summer expenses were $20,368, executive board expenses totaled $30,500, legislative senate expenses totaled $28,515.50 and $11,886 on the fall SGA retreat, Mola said.
After Senior Class President Walden Hicks questioned the executive board pay and their authority to make financial decisions outside of senate session, SGA advisor Danielle Minke said that e-board members are held to “high professional standards as university employees.”
With this sentiment, Weinstock said he reduced his director stipend from $900 to $432 due to his personal philosophy on public service and returned the balance to the general SGA fund for resolution spending. Alexandria Archer, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) director, said she moved all of her $900 stipend to the SGA DEI fund to support more diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on campus.
Hicks reduced the senior class president stipend from $540 to $459 and raised the senior class senator stipends $459 to “prevent hierarchy in wages.” Hicks argued that he “represents his class in the same way as the senate” and his decision models the structure of United States Congress.
The entire sophomore class senate delegation moved their entire stipends into sophomore class funds.
“Removal of stipends does not remove responsibility,” Weinstock said.
This decision raised hesitation from other SGA members.
“Making decisions about personal money in the heat of the moment can distort one’s true feelings especially if there is peer pressure…I hope in the future we can be a little bit more mindful,” Freshman Class Senator Jack Quigg said.
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Email H.L. McCullough: hubert.mccullough@pepperdine.edu
