The Stampede got to sit down and talk with Student Government Association (SGA) president Gabe Logan and sponsor Dr. Amy Edmonds to hear their plans for this upcoming year.
What could be considered both Logan’s and Edmonds’ best quality is their passion. They both are beyond excited for this upcoming year and the plans they have for it. The three words guiding them this year are: truth, love and communication. Logan’s mentality for the year is to simplify his life as much as possible.
“If I can be as truthful as possible and love as much as possible, then it makes my decisions much easier to make, and it allows me to say no to things,” Logan said. “When it comes to a crossroad, all my decisions will be made [with] truth and love, and I’ll be okay.”
Edmonds’ word for the year is communication. She is in the process of teaching the executive team about Robert’s Rules of Order, which is are rules for running a meeting effectively, based on procedures from the British parliament. and is very excited, because this will change the way SGA communicates with so many people.
“Just making sure that they’re sort of keeping lines of communication open,” Edmonds said, “so if students have concerns about something happening in academics, Gabe can go to Garland Young and get that information, and vice versa. If Garland felt that students need to know this side of it, Gabe can present that at SGA.”
She continued, “The other thing that might be even more important is that the executive team has talked about how they want to be better at communicating with Milligan students about what it is they do and also how Milligan students can communicate with SGA. To bring up areas of concern or just questions they have.”
When asked about some concrete plans for this year, Logan mentioned an engraved path they are planning to build connecting the library to Blowers Boulevard.
In his words, “If Milligan college is the world, the place where we’re going to put the pathway is Manhattan. Everyone walks there; everyone goes there. It’ll be something they’ll be proud of, it’ll be like, ‘look at the cool thing that we did’.”
SGA really wants to make this a project that students can come back and show their kids.
Logan also wants to make a plan for the next five years in order to get bigger projects done and gain momentum for those who pick up where he will leave off.
“The goal this year in speaking with President Greer is not to just think of this year but the next five years, and get 20% there, and the person that comes in behind me gets the next 20%,” he said. “I want to think of the next five years, getting people involved, making SGA a cool thing, and letting people know that we are doing stuff, and that student government is actually on campus and see the difference and impact we are making.”
SGA also wants to make sure that their plan is what the students want.
“I am willing to work with them in any way shape or form,” Logan said. “From the highest level of work to the lowest level of work, I’ll help them clean up something, I’ll help them talk to President Greer, as long as they show initiative and ask.”
Showing his excitement for the year, Logan put it best: “I believe this year is a very special year. I don’t things just happen or [are] coincidences. I believe everything is divinely ordered in how we got here.”