On Wednesday, the newly elected student body president was sworn in along with the other members of NC State’s 99th session of Student Government. The new officers discussed how they will continue to connect with the NC State student body by being advocates, which has been a major initiative in this past year as well.
The new officers include Student Chief Justice Kiera Johnson, Student Treasurer Garrison Seitz, Student Senate President Mitchell Moravec, Student Body Vice President Nicole Teague and Student Body President Emma Carter.
The inauguration began with Student Government advisor Brian Garsh introducing the outgoing Student Body President, Jess Errico, a fifth-year studying mechanical and aerospace engineering. Errico briefly talked about the major accomplishments the 98th session has made over the 2018-2019 school year.
Errico talked about some of the challenges in holding the Student Body President position.
“It is a very short period of time to make impactful change, implement change, but also sustainable change that will continue to benefit students who have yet to come,” Errico said.
Errico mentioned a handful of initiatives that the 98th session implemented to make the university more inclusive.
“We partnered with the Career Development Center to launch the first-ever graduation closet as an extension of the Wolfpack Styled professional closet,” Errico said. “No student is kept from walking across graduation because of a financial barrier.”
Finally, Errico ended her statement by saying that the end goal was to leave NC State a little bit better than it was when she arrived.
Following Errico’s speech, the old officers held their desk drawers for the new officers to sign, a tradition within Student Government. The new members were officially sworn in, and the vice president and president gave their first speeches in office.
Emma Carter, a third-year studying sociology and international studies, said that her campaign was led on a foundation of five principles: accessibility and inclusion, connection, collaboration, being an ally and sustainability. She wants to make sure the student body is involved in future decisions that Student Government makes.
“I really want to bring NC State together as a whole, and our slogan was ‘This is about the pack,’ because this is about the students,” Carter said. “We want to give Student Government back to the students and make sure we are advocating for them and also letting them advocate for themselves.”
Carter emphasized her previous experiences are what ultimately led her to run for student body president.
“I was involved as the Association of Student Governments delegate,” Carter said. “That got me exposed to the UNC System, seeing how we all come together and collaborate as a school. I thought it would be awesome and really interesting if I could come here and make a change but also bring that to ASG.”
Nicole Teague, a third-year studying business administration, said her passion for being an advocate for students let her to run.
“We want to ensure that all students are heard,” Teague said. “We want to make sure students know what we are doing is through transparency.”
Teague expressed some initiatives she is excited about addressing on campus during her term as student body vice president.
“I am really passionate about mental health initiatives and wellness, working with the executive branch, finding new and innovative ways to worry about this issue,” Teague said. “We want to collaborate with transportation and see if there are ways that we can get wolf passes for graduate students.”
Members of the 99th session of Student Government will hold their positions for a full year ending in March 2020.
