The Student Government Association of Bakersfield College is on its way to continue its year of unity, and SGA plans to continue working on creating an exciting, fun, cooperative feeling within the school and the association.
“I think we have certainly started the process. It’s really the beginning; we’re going to improve next semester,” said Micah Card, president of the SGA. “We’re just going to keep improving. We tried new things that helped us work toward unity not division. It was a groundbreaking semester. Next semester will be refined.”
According to Dean of Students Don Turney and Card, the most defining moment this year was Homecoming Week.
“Homecoming Week was done well, and it was the best Homecoming we’ve had in years,” said Turney. “The fact that they have brought back a student body rooting zone is phenomenal. These guys are bringing it back. The things they are doing will last for 10 years.”
With creative events planned by SGA, Homecoming Week had one of the biggest student responses in years.
“Homecoming Week had a lot of events; we did so many things that surprised even me,” said Card. “The bureaucratic push, like the creative idea of the mechanical bull, we owe to Sarah Cuellar.”
This academic year’s SGA is really pushing their slogan and working to be the best this campus has ever seen.
“This is “The Year of Unity.” The thing is, it’s not just a slogan, it’s a reality,” said Turney. “We push everything through that paradigm. Is it going to hurt or improve unity?”
The SGA was the highest-rated host college for the West Coast and was chosen to host the Community College Student Government Training Conference on Dec. 2.
“We have some really dedicated people,” said Tamara Langdon, SGA’s treasurer. “We build off of the things our predecessors have done. We think of how we can further the accomplishments.”
Instead of completely following in the footsteps of their predecessors, they have made the SGA theirs.
“We decided to do things on our own. We took a step back and looked more closely at issues like the proposed designated smoking areas,” said Card. “We asked ourselves if students on our campus would really be happy if it were passed instead of letting people completely sway our decisions. We can’t let just any party tell us what to do.”
There have been few downfalls for the SGA so far this year, nothing they didn’t learn from. According to Card, they have more student interest. Turney said currently there are 35 commissioners and senators. That is the most they’ve had in years.
“I think this semester, we learned the best. We grew into our positions, and it will make a play through break,” said Card. “It’s a different feeling for the association. I guess you could say we grew into our teeth. We became better officers and students.”
They are not stopping at the Christmas break. They are going to be working through break to plan events to continue the unity. They are also looking into improving products such as the ‘Gades card.
“We’re looking into some products and ideas to better publicize for next semester,” said Langdon. “For ‘Gades cards, at the beginning of the semester, it’s now an optional fee, but it actually is now very useful and has all kinds of discounts and perks.”
After the first semester, the SGA can be expected to come back and impress even more.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” said Turney said.