RCSGA announces class chairs, senators

The Richmond College Student Government Association held elections for the 107th session of the Richmond College Senate on April 5.

The results were announced to Richmond College members via an April 6 email from Joe Boehman, RCSGA advisor and dean of Richmond College. The class chairs for the 2022-2023 academic year are: first-year Alfie Price, sophomore Will Emerson and junior Mohamad Hussein. Class senators are as follows:

Class of 2023

• Danny Anderson
• Vahn Corrothers
• Jalen Jones
• Mason Manley
• Christopher Ortiz-Martinez
• Reide Petty

Class of 2024

• Aamy Bakry
• Guy Cervone
• Karthik Lalwani
• Brady Lang
• Sean Leyden
• Scooter Stichter
• Bryan Valdes

Class of 2025

• Rilwan Akinola
• Payton Cottingham
• Jonathan Garner
• Hans Kiernan
• Graham Mills
• Brenden Schildkraut
• Franklin Wetmore

Seven juniors, eight sophomores and 11 first-year students campaigned for seven senator spots in each class. The lack of sophomore and junior senators running for election was likely because of students studying abroad in the fall, Will Emerson said. 

While campaigning for reelection as class chair was hard work, it paid off in the end, Hussein said.

“The campaign process was hard because I really wanted to reach everybody,” Hussein said. “But it’s been worth it because all I really care about is the voice of the students on campus.”

Emerson was reelected as class chair and hopes to expand the responsibilities of the position to increase coordination with senators, he said. Emerson also wants the class chairs to be more transparent with the student body about issues RCSGA is working on and events on campus, he said.

“I think next year is definitely going to be a year of rebuilding and revitalizing our community and so the class chairs are definitely involved with that,” Emerson said.

Anderson has similar goals for RCSGA senators, he said.

“I really want to improve transparency of our elections and what we do as an organization in general,” Anderson said. “I feel like we could be better at communicating by publishing more and notifying the student body of how we make decisions.”

Along with building off of initiatives he began last year to advocate for men’s mental health,  Price also plans to use his position as class of 2025 class chair to collaborate more with the Westhampton College Government Association, he said.

Another one of Anderson’s goals as a class of 2023 senator is to provide more support for sexual assault survivors, including providing survivor assistance funds and legal services similar to other universities, he said.

“University of Oregon has a nationally recognized program and they have implemented both of these methods, so I want to use that as a model to try and build something here,” Anderson said.

Senators from across all classes hope to initiate policies that foster a greater sense of community for minority students. Akinola plans to promote student wellness by advocating for mandatory anti-racist training for all faculty members, he said.

Also, as a member of the Spiders First-Generation Low-Income program within the Student Center for Equity and Inclusion, Hussein hopes to expand resources and support for fellow FLI students, he said.

Contact news writer Katie Castellani at katie.castellani@richmond.edu.