Returning SGA Senators Detail Plans For the Coming Year
Image Courtesy of The Catholic University of America
By Anthony Curioso and Patrick D. Lewis
Each year, the Student Government Association (SGA) senate at CUA allows each class year and academic school to elect two senators to represent them for the current academic year. This year’s election for the members of what is colloquially nicknamed “Senate X” took place in the Pryzbyla Center and on the Nest website on September 23. Five senators who had served in the Senate in previous years and two who had served in Senate administrative positions were elected to serve their peers again.
Here’s a list of the returning senators:
- Bennett Bert, a junior politics major representing the class of 2026, served a full term as a freshman and half a term as a sophomore before studying abroad in Rome.
- Jack Hermes, a sophomore finance and philosophy major, will represent the class of 2027.
- Catherine Weatherwax, a sophomore politics major representing the class of 2027, was a senate secretary last year, which made her one of the two people responsible for recording the meeting minutes.
- Elisabeth D’Albero, a senior architecture major representing the School of Architecture and Planning, led the SGA advocacy effort for the Metro UPass program.
- Gary Vanpelt, a junior politics major representing the School of Arts and Sciences, previously ran twice for the class of 2026 seats and served as a senate secretary in 2022-23, the year he ran the first of these campaigns.
- David Norcross, a sophomore philosophy major representing the School of Philosophy, was appointed to his seat in 2023-24.
- Frances Noory, a junior social work major representing the National Catholic School of Social Service or NCSSS, was first appointed to her seat in the spring of 2023 and served in the SGA cabinet as senior director of executive initiatives in 2023-24.
Class of 2027 senator-elect Jack Hermes reflected on what he was proudest of about his first term.
“Last year, I was either a sponsor or co-sponsor of more than sixty percent of the legislation passed that the SGA executive board [ended] up being implemented, which is quite impressive as a freshman,” Hermes said. “However, I am proudest that we could implement the vending machine with protein bars, protein shakes, and energy drinks in the Kane Center.”
Another returning senator, Bennett Bert, was asked about the importance of his prior Senate experience.
Bert said, “As a returning senator, I hope to leverage the relationships that I have formed over my past two years in the Senate to create lasting change for our university community.”
Hermes described some of his plans for legislation he wants to introduce in the senate in his second term.
“There are some student issues I’d like to address that will take a few weeks, if not a few months, to implement, such as improving Kane Center equipment or getting our Cardinal Cards added to our phones’ mobile wallets,” Hermes said. “As for more immediate things, I would like to explore some SGA reforms, such as more transparency on where resources from the student activity fee are spent so we, as students, know where our money is going, and more transparency regarding the results of our elections to alleviate any potential concerns about election legitimacy that might have come up.”
Whether Hermes or any of the other six returning senators will accomplish their goals remains to be seen. The first senate meeting is on October 7 at 8:15 p.m., and we will find out then if any of the seven returners introduce legislation.
