SGA spring elections are coming up, with applications open  from April 7 to April 21 — the end of the campaigns will be from May 5 through May 9. 

“We want to make sure that as many students get involved as possible, and that everybody is aware of SGA and aware of the space they have there,” Margo Halbleib, the election operation board chair, said. 

Anyone can apply to be a representative for any college as long as they are a part of that college; for some of the higher roles, one year in cabinet is required, Halbleib said. 

Currently SGA is planning a community town hall to address questions of safety at DePaul, with worries of Immigration presence around campus as well as other general safety concerns people may have, SGA parliamentarian Gerald Zink said.

“We have so much stuff going on right now, specifically politically, federally and a lot of other problems going on,” Zink said. ”We want to host a general town hall to discuss matters such as that.”

The goal will be to have the administration available for students to ask questions regarding safety. Chair of membership, Leo Dominguez, has the primary role in planning the event. 

“It gives the students the ability to ask questions,” Dominguez said. “If you want to be anonymous, I can ask the questions for you, or if you want a direct response and if you’re present, we can totally do that.”

Beyond the town hall, SGA has made progress in their initiatives with the Displaced Students Fund, formerly known as the Gaza Scholars Program. Ahmad Barakat, the chair of diversity, equity and inclusion, said that the Displaced Students Fund is hoping to have students enrolled by the fall quarter of next year.

Barakat said  the university has had trouble staying in contact with potential students which pushed back the enrollment until next fall. 

“The nonprofit organizations that the university has partnered with to communicate with potential students have had a difficult time in finding students with the necessary network connections needed to complete the enrollment process and begin courses,” Barakat said. 

SGA has been utilizing the university community as well as potential help from local businesses in raising funding for the program, according to Barakat. 

“Although this is an SGA-led initiative, this is important to a large portion of the university community, and we would love to have them involved in the important work that the committee does,” Barakat said. 

College of Computing and Digital Media representative Dhruti Amin has taken on a project in planning a research symposium on May 2. She said the opportunity is open to all students, with hopes for many students from CDM coming and sharing their research.

“Our main goal is to allow students to be able to join those research opportunities, networks and build some interpersonal relationships that will hopefully involve them outside of college,” Amin said. 

This is the first time that this event has been hosted by SGA; other colleges have done their own research symposiums, but this one will be the most marketed and student-led, Amin said.  

“We want this event to be science fair-style,” Amin said. “So that they have a lot of opportunities for one-on-one conversations with faculty and people who are conducting the research, whether that be students or the professors.” 

Tackling food waste problems has also been on the docket for SGA this quarter. Freshman representative Peyton Deck said SGA is trying to find solutions for dealing with excess food waste after campus events. 

SGA is also aiming to bring more awareness to the Basic Needs Hub and how students can access the resources there, Deck said. Extensions of the hub now include the Rosalie Rendu Student Pantry and the Career Closet. These resources can be found on both the Lincoln Park and Loop campuses. 

“I want to continue to work with the Basic Needs Hub, because food insecurity is a major problem on campus,” Deck said. “It’s a resource that I don’t personally think many students are aware of so our shared goal is to continue to publicize that as a resource so students can access that.” 

One part of making the Basic Needs Hub known to more students is creating an inviting environment for students to access food that is destigmatized, Deck said. She said the event “Fuel up for Finals” during winter quarter was put on for this purpose. 

Event information and more ways to get involved with SGA’s upcoming elections can be found at their Instagram @sgadepaul.

Related stories: 

• Interim Vice President of Student Affairs Goldsberry visits SGA on her journey to gauge student needs
• International students look to SGA for support through unique challenges
• SGA’s DEI committee campaigns for a Gaza Scholars Program

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