By Sanjea Taylor, Contributing Writer
Spring 2025 is here, and with a semester full of new events, renovations, and student-driven projects, students are looking forward to what lies ahead.
From bringing back past traditions to bringing in fresh new ideas, SGU has a plan in place to guarantee that this semester is the best one yet.
After enjoying a very well rested winter break, students are all back on campus and ready for what the new semester has to bring, but so is the Student Government Union (SGU). Following weeks of preparation, the student government has a calendar for this semester that includes many activities, events and more, all to help students have fun and make new friends.
Tamar Olguin, the Student Body President and a junior majoring in clinical psychology, shared what SGU has in store for students that will make sure this semester will be a momentous one.
“Student government union has always had the same mission: to enhance the student’s experience, and we are aiming to achieve that goal this semester,” said Olguin.
“The key events we had last semester will remain, but we do have a lot of fun things in store, especially for Leo love week, and we are cohosting events with student family engagement in the future,” continued Olguin.
“In fact, we’re bringing back an event that we did last semester, the “Crush on You” event, because people really loved it last Leo love week,” stated Olguin.
Similar to the “Crush on You” event, there are many past events returning this semester, like the intercultural Student Association Pageant that just passed and the end of semester event Moonlight Breakfast. However, SGU is always planning new events for students to enhance the student’s experiences.
“We always strive to fund things that will not only be fun for our students to attend, but will also be something educational. So, events where you’re getting to meet new people and learn about different cultures.” stated Olguin. “Like our Intercultural Student Association Pageant.”
This Semester SGU has scheduled a lot of events for students this semester, even events that were scheduled for the previous semester but due to unforeseen circumstances were unable to occur.
“Last academic year we were trying to have Fall Family Festival, however, due to the hurricanes, that was no longer an option to host this event,” said Olguin. “So, for this academic year, at Family Weekend, student government is tabling Feb. 15, and we’ll be doing an event there.”
Also, SGU is always aiming to improve returning events for students to make sure all students can have a share in these events and enjoy these events, an example of this was the Intercultural Student Association Pageant.
“Last academic year, this pageant was at a cost to students. But this year it was free for all students. We were happy to be funding this so that students have the opportunity to engage in these events,” said Olguin.
However, it’s not just the events SGU has planned to improve this semester, as they are aiming to make new renovations to various facilities on campus and improve different initiatives that were introduced.
“We’re looking to keep expanding our food pantry and getting a variety of items that students still need,” stated Olguin Additionally, Olguin continued, “the commuter lounge, we are looking to see what renovations we can do there.”
Student input is crucial to SUG’s planning of upcoming campus activities since it informs SUG of the things that students like and dislike.
“We get feedback constantly with every single event. When students say that they really like a certain event, we are always looking to bring it back the next semester,” said Olguin.
SUG and Olguin have ensured that there is multiple ways students can make their voices heard and share their feedback from various events.
“Our opportunities for students to voice their opinions have always stayed the same. For example, our public Senate meetings in TECO Hall 6pm on Wednesday nights have always been open to the public,” stated Olguin.
With all these opportunities for students to express their opinions and SUG’s constant creation of new activities for students to enjoy, you may contribute your ideas and opinions to make your semester even more enjoyable.
