Mercer Student Government Association announced seven new senators in Thursday night’s banner drop in the Mercer Innovation Center. Addison Hill '30, Annabella Shenoy '30, David Donelly '30 and Gabrielle Barclay '30 won the election for the senate’s freshman seats, while Safia Massoud '29 and Kome Onowotu '29 filled the sophomore seats. Onowotu is this year’s Senator at Large.
Along with the new senators, Mercer students elected Charly Logan '30 as the freshman class president. As class president, Logan said she will foster a strong campus community.
“I hope to spark some change by making sure people are heard, whether it is through scanning QR codes and filling out surveys or just coming up to me and feeling comfortable enough to say the things they want to see changed,” Logan said.
The new senators paralleled Logan's focus. Freshman senators said they’ve noticed a particular issue with Mercer’s campus culture.
“I see everybody with their headphones in and walking to class with their heads down,” Barclay said. “I want Mercer to be a big community where we don’t just get together during game days. I want to be together throughout the entire school year.”
Massoud presented some ideas to make that happen. The sophomore said there’s room for Mercer to add more large-scale events like the school’s annual Bearstock to bring students together.
Hill said she will advocate for improved accessibility and alumni relationships. She shared her ideas for a system similar to Mercer’s current peer advisor program. Under this program, she said, Mercer would connect alumni with underclassmen to help students navigate their way through school as they prepare for the workforce.
As senator at large, Onowotu said she hopes to encourage diverse opinions between senators as they push to improve campus life. The new senators appeared to agree that Mercer needs more connection within the student body. Specifically, public relations and elections chair Shuler Reynolds ‘29 said he’s excited to see the senate’s determination this year.
The newly elected senators will undergo SGA training this weekend, Aug. 29-30. The first senate meeting will take place Aug. 31 at 6:30 p.m in the Mercer Innovation Center.
Nathaniel Jordan '29 is a Journalism and Anthropology major at Mercer, and plans to become an investigative journalist. He enjoys older pleasures like reading the Sunday paper and frequents local parks with his wife and son.
