SGLC Enters ‘A New Era’ Focusing On Community, Advocacy And Representation

The new 2024-2025 makeup of the Student Government of Loyola Chicago has officially taken form for the new academic year.

With the spring election of Student Body President Daniel Williams, SGLC has entered what William’s calls “a new era,” focusing on boosting community and morale in SGLC. 

Williams said he and his running mate, newly elected Vice President Erin Tylutki, decided to take on the challenge of top office because they felt SGLC was heading in the wrong direction and losing the engagement and enthusiasm of previous years. 

He said he thought the leadership style of the past year didn’t fit with the group of students who were in SGLC, provoking him to run for office on the basis of change. 

“I think certain leadership styles work best for different situations,” William said. “The leadership styles of the last term maybe weren’t the best situation for the group of people that were here.”

Attorney General Paige Gutierez, formerly chief justice, said the emphasis on change in this year’s leadership has created a safe and comfortable environment for all members. In her new role, Gutierez said she hopes to cut back on any negative energy among members. 

Gutierez resigned from her role as Chief Justice last spring, the Phoenix previously reported, citing SGLC’s negative impact on her mental health. 

Gutierez said more opportunities for organizational bonding, especially across the the executive, judicial and legislative branches, could help to make for a closer knit community in SGLC and solve some of the internal issues which led to her resignation. 

In the “new era” of SGLC, Williams said he wants to focus on listening to members to better understand their perspectives and ideas and ensure participants get what they want out of their role.

“We thought that if SGLC is running good, we could help the university better with all of the initiatives that we want to do,” Williams said. 

Williams, who is entering his fourth-year in SGLC, previously served as a Senator, a member of the Allocations Committee, the Chair of the Programming and Outreach Committee and the Chair of the Justice Committee. 

While the majority of the sitting members of SGLC were elected last year, voting for the special election for seven first-year seats and roughly 19 upperclassman and at-large seats occurred Sept. 14-16 with new senators set to be sworn in Sept. 24.

In his new role Williams has so far passed 22 executive orders, which cover both internal SGLC affairs as well as initiatives affecting Loyola’s entire student body. Of Williams’ 22 executive orders, which are presidential directives signed into policy, Executive Orders #03F24, #05F24 and #12F24 will be most impactful to the student body, Williams said.

The purpose of Executive Order #03 is to reaffirm SGLC’s commitment to prioritizing and furthering the Anti-War Initiative, which involves working on humanitarian aid events with outside organizations and advocating for the needs of registered student organizations. 

Executive Order #05 aims to ensure items purchased through the Student Activity Fund aren’t harmful to the environment or unsustainable by working with the Center for Student Engagement and the Campus Activities Network.

The Paper Limited Classroom Initiative, Executive Order #12, aims to decrease paper-usage in classrooms to only what is absolutely necessary.

“By continuing to advocate for paper limited classrooms and other environmentally conscious policies, we aim to set a precedent for future generations of students and leaders,” Williams wrote in Executive Order #12. “This executive order represents a pivotal step in our ongoing journey towards a more sustainable and eco-friendly campus.”

Yolenna Regmi, SGLC’s chief diversity officer for administration, said her experiences growing up in a predominantly white suburb of Nebraska inspired her passion and consistent advocacy for diversity and inclusion. 

“I really want to push myself harder into thinking into the minds of students,” Regmi said. “I want to make diversity something that is not only for people pursuing careers in social justice work or political science, but for something that all students can integrate into their daily life.”

Regmi said she regularly meets with the representatives from the Center for Diversity and Inclusion and the Center for Black Student Excellence, and she hopes to expand her advocacy by meeting with religious groups on campus as well as the Student Accessibility Center.

Director of the Center for Black Student Excellence Cory Barnes said last year Regmi often worked as a liaison to connect the center to other registered student organizations. He said their goal this year is to be more intentional about creating relationships between groups on campus by participating in community service projects and working with non-profit organizations. 

“I’m really impressed with SGLC and their strives to really uplift the student voice,” Barnes said.

He applauded SGLC’s responsiveness to students’ needs as well as their responsiveness to the current political climate. Barnes said he believes SGLC’s current initiatives will impact generations of students to come. 

In the upcoming year, Regmi said she hopes to assist in educating other members of SGLC by requiring them to attend anti-discrimination trainings such as the Dream training and the Safe Space training. 

The Dream training teaches students how to be advocates for undocumented immigrants in the Loyola community by understanding the challenges they face while the Safe Space training showcases allyship for the LGBTQ+ community, Regmi said. 

“I believe that if SGLC is supposed to represent all of the student body, we should be aware of the experiences of all the student body and be able to advocate for those different groups and different perspectives than our own,” Regmi said. 

Ronan Valera, chief academic affairs officer, said in his position, which was created last year under former president Alexandra Brist, he aims to ensure the academic excellence of Loyola students by providing necessary resources for success in and out of the classroom. 

One of Valera’s main goals as chief academic affairs officer is to reform the academic advising system and solve structural issues of the program, which cause problems for students who are trying to get advice needed to graduate.

Valera said one of the biggest changes he has recognized with the new SGLC is the ability to disagree openly and respectfully by making compromises. 

Notably, Valera said many SGLC initiatives are overlapping between various committees, leading to collaboration between members. 

“They’re not just getting in their, I say, ‘tunnel vision initiatives,’” Valera said. “They’re not just keeping to themselves — they’re reaching across other committees to see where our initiatives intersect, and how we can both use our expertise to provide the best experience at Loyola for students.”

Twenty-three students were elected into SGLC the night of Sept. 17.

Evie Abderrazza, Danijela Crnjac, Matthew Erlec, Wynton Mason, EJ Onyango, Annmarie Easter and Avery Smith were elected to be at-large internals, meaning elected by other senators.

Tricia Donohue and Stefan Tomovic were elected as second-year internals.

Jake Pardus, Kaliyah Thompson and Jannah Ahmed were elected as third-year internals.

Grace Gairani, Haaris Malik, Waha Seddiqui and Auzie George were elected as fourth-year internals. 

Ben Braun, Ryan Cusson, Saskia Jean, Kurt Navarro, Natalie Voltin, Olivia Waldrop and Lilyan Zajac were elected as first-year externals, meaning they were elected through public campaigning.