By Megan Brown
“I eat, sleep and breath SGA,” said SGA president, Nathan Gregoire.
When Gregoire stepped up to the plate of President earlier this year he said that he couldn’t have done it without the support of everyone in SGA.
He was the most willing senior leader to step up but doesn’t regret his decision for a second.
It’s been a long time coming and this year it’s been put into action – SGA became a senate structure.
There are now 10 representatives from each year, an overall president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and student trustee.
By making the SGA structure a senate there is no hierarchy or power struggle. It is all now committee-based, not class based, and now there is no public relations chair in the committee.
This structure is more effective, SGA is about the issues of the students and their concerns, not about Event Planning. “Leave the events to FAB (Fitchburg Activities Board).” Gregoire said.
About two years ago, SGA advisor Hank Parkinson brought to SGA’s attention the way SGA was working and something needed to change.
In October, Gregoire and three other students, Sarah Minton, Emily McGrath and Mallory-Anne Perron went to Washington, DC for an SGA conference to see other universities student governments and they are structured.
Gregoire is going on his fourth year in SGA and is a junior criminal justice major. He has held positions of 2015 president his freshman year, two terms as student trustee and took on the role of president halfway through this year.
As the new year comes Gregoire says that SGA is excited about the new structure and the learning curve that comes with it.