I write to you aggravated by your article in last week’s issue about a disconnect between Student Government Association (SGA) and the student body. Seriously? The author makes a claim about a disconnect after interviewing only three students who are not affiliated with SGA.

This is a very bold claim to make based on such a small sample of student opinion on the matter. Not only is SGA in constant communication with the student body, it is more so this year than any year in recent memory. I, the Director of Internal Affairs for Residence Hall Council, was approached – along with members from at least a dozen other prominent organizations and student populations – by SGA in the summer and offered the opportunity to serve as a liaison between my organization and SGA.

This reflects their goal to reach more students than ever before. Now, I relay pertinent information from SGA to the whole body of RHC senators, who then are encouraged to share this information with their respective residents.

This did not exist in RHC last year, and this is a huge step in the direction of increased visibility for SGA. On top of that, SGA senators now spend their office hours in Brownstones and the DePaul Center, where students can approach them with concerns about their school experience. They have also drastically increased their presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Every quarter they have open forums where they invite all students to chat and get acquainted with their senators. Just this year, they began sending student-wide emails, providing quarterly newsletters and information about elections to all students. In addition to reaching out to the student body, they have also been hard at work acting on the concerns that students raise to them. They implemented signs at the bookstore to inform students about their rights when purchasing textbooks.

They worked with Information Services to fix the “View My Grades” section of Campus Connect. They addressed concerns about Ventra by hosting a “Let’s Talk Ventra” event where they brought in representatives from Ventra for students to directly voice their concerns. They initiated the double-sided printing standard. They worked to create a graphic representation of Blue Demon Week, as can be seen at the Richardson Library and on the Lewis Center Building in the loop. These are just a few examples, and there is still another quarter in the academic year.

Even in the picture you included in your article, the room is packed with people at the weekly SGA meeting. Only about half of those people are actually elected members of SGA. The rest are present to voice their concerns or just to be a part of the ongoing conversation. I am very concerned that a wild distortion like this was actually published by The DePaulia.

Why would you write and publish an uninformed article bashing your own student government, when you could report on the significant progress that they have made and the extensive efforts they have undertaken to benefit their fellow students? Please consider putting some focus on reporting about the positive things going on in the community of which you have chosen to be a part.