DePaul’s Student Government Association sits on various committees with faculty, staff and administration to voice the student perspective, concerns and opinions. As SGA election season is upon us, a team of student leaders, collectively known as “We Are DePaul,” have joined forces, brainstormed progressive initiatives and are campaigning to be elected into the 2018-19 SGA to make real change to benefit students. While we cannot buy support, we are relying on students to please share our message, hear our ideas and get out to vote.

We Are DePaul consists of Jack Evans and Katy Bozich (President and Vice President), Lucy Norton (Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs), Sydney Jones (EVP of Student Affairs), Sophie Modzelewski (EVP of Operations) and Justin Fernandez (Treasurer). Additionally, We Are DePaul has recently endorsed Gisselle Cervantes, DePaul SGA’s first ever EVP of Equity and Diversity.

Five out of the seven candidates are currently in SGA now and are hoping to continue the progress they have made this year. Promoting change in Student Government roles involves building relationships with the DePaul administration and understanding DePaul’s structure, and We Are DePaul’s prior experience will create a smooth transition.

We Are DePaul has brainstormed initiatives we believe can both reinvent DePaul SGA’s relationship with students as well as evoke great change benefiting campus climate, student needs and the environment.

Jack and Katy hope to increase SGA’s transparency and accessibility to students in collaborating with more on-campus organizations, drafting significantly more resolutions and policies to be sent to administration and to increase communication with the general student body in order to incorporate all student needs and concerns.

Lucy will strive to continue SGA’s work in advocating for open-source textbooks and making course evaluations public.

Sydney hopes to advocate for more healthy dining options on campus, allowing organizations to distribute condoms, advocate for DePaul to fund feminine hygiene products and continue to facilitate dialogue regarding sexual health and relationships.

Sophie has big plans for making DePaul more competitive with Loyola in terms of sustainability. Some of her aims include limiting dependence on plastic bottles and straws, adding more biodegradable products on campus and pushing for a student-run sustainability fund. Additionally, Sophie hopes to make bathroom signage more inclusive of all genders and make DePaul’s campus more accessible for students with disabilities.

As treasurer, Justin hopes to increase communication with DePaul students about SGA’s budget through online tools, so students are able to have an input on how SGA’s benefit should be spent as we are serving YOU!

Gisselle’s position is new, but she has been conversing with many organizations on campus to shape the initiatives she hopes to accomplish next year. She wants to examine how DePaul makes decisions with equity and diversity in mind.

DePaul, it is time to take SGA seriously. We are running to represent YOU. We can do so, so much to improve sustainability, advocate for reproductive justice and push for educational affordability and transparency through university policy change.

In order for We Are DePaul to be successful in advocating and implementing our initiatives in the upcoming school year, we need students to vote at votesga.depaul.edu!