86th SGA Presidential Election Results

Heath Goertzen- President

SGA Involvement: Please list any experience, including committees and leadership positions. Also, please BRIEFLY state what you have accomplished in these positions.

Junior Senator and Speaker of the Senate (Ways & Means Committee) – Worked to reinstate Robert’s Rules of Order and increase the efficiency of the Senate while continuing to emphasize representative practices. Further, drastically improved flow of information and opportunities for feedback by sending all bills to the student body prior to consideration.

Important Bills I advocated for this year:

1. Individual Request Scholarship: Allocating funds to be available for students to receive for academic support purposes.
2. Sending bills to the Student Body- Drastically increased the transparency of Senate improved availability of information to the student body. This is what causes bills to be sent out every Thursday.
3. Various Campus improvements- Multiple projects on campus derived directly from SGA Cares concerns from the student body.

Other Campus Involvement: Please list any experience and leadership positions held. Also, please BRIEFLY state what you have accomplished in these positions.

President, Bethel College Rock Climbing Club Revived a dormant club, established consistent events and a participation base. Climbed rocks. Track and Cross Country athlete- Acted as team leader and gained experience relating to people from various backgrounds.

Platform: Please provide a brief description of yourself, you intentions for running, and goals you may have if elected to your desired position.

My name is Heath Goertzen and I am running for Student Body President because I think that I am the best candidate. I believe that our ticket is uniquely prepared to represent the nuanced and highly diverse voices of the student body. While we recognize that we are a pair of White, Cisgender, Male, ethnically Mennonite voices, we believe we are still capable of listening to and representing our peers effectively. We come from: different faith stances, different academic courses (myself STEM, Alec humanities) and different extracurriculars (myself in Athletics, Alec in Music). Furthermore, our experience in SGA will enable us to work effectively within the roles of President and Vice President: We have experience in roles which dealt directly with representing students and managing many personnel and projects. Through these experiences, we have learned how to think in the interests of those who we represent instead of ourselves. We have also had opportunity to learn how to engage our constituencies. These are vital skills for any member of the Student Government and even more important for the offices of President and Vice President

I believe that important progress has been made in recent years towards making Student Government a useful and empowered voice for the student body. The bills I advocated over the past year in and of themselves make important steps to increasing transparency and more fairly distributing Student Government funding.  Of course, major issues still remain. Increasing student involvement, ensuring accurate representation of student opinion, and looking closely at the distribution of Student Government funding continue to be extremely important issues, and will constitute my primary goals should I be elected to office. Other goals will include continuing work on unfinished projects from previous years: Student representation on the board, reducing sexualized violence on campus, and improving campus security most prominently.

Alec Loganbill- Vice President

SGA Involvement: Please list any experience, including committees and leadership positions. Also, please BRIEFLY state what you have accomplished in these positions.

Freshman Senator (Food Service Committee, Finance and Student Organizations Committee) – Actively represented the Freshman Class primarily through engaging with my constituency and voting on legislation.

Chief of Staff (Executive Committee, Chair of Ways & Means Committee, Finance and Student Organizations Committee [ex-oficio]) – I oversaw, maintained, and prepared the budget of the Student Government and its charters. I also presented to the Presidential Cabinet and the Faculty regularly, improving SGA’s relationship with these groups.

Vice President of the Student Body (Executive Committee, Ways & Means Committee, President of the Senate) – I have been an advocate for decreasing sexualized violence on campus and improving the student presence on the Board of Directors. I have acted as the voice of the student body in many capacities including presenting at faculty meetings, discussing student issues with Board members, and meeting with members administration, including President Gering. I was also represented the student body in the selection process of President Jon Gering and Vice President of Student Life Samuel Haynes.

Other Campus Involvement: Please list any experience and leadership positions held. Also, please BRIEFLY state what you have accomplished in these positions.

Student Alumni Association General Member and Executive Member – Assisted in and organized the planning and execution of events such as Mudslam, the Senior Banquet, and a variety of Fall Fest activities. Music Ensembles  Concert Choir, Open Road, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble I, Orchestra) – As a member of these ensembles, I have maintained an active performance schedule and have performed with world-class musicians, conductors, and composers.

CAD Tutor for History, Bible & Religion, and Writing – Assisted students in these academic areas in a number of ways, from one-on-one studies to editing papers and projects.

Student Caller and Ambassador (Fall 2015 – Spring 2018) – Called perspective students, gave campus tours, assisted the Admissions Office with large-scale events, and successfully worked to improve Bethel’s image.

History Department Aide – My main accomplishment in this role has been assisting in the organization and execution of the Mennonites and the Holocaust Symposium, an international history conference.

Platform: Please provide a brief description of yourself, your intentions for running, and goals you may have if elected to your desired position.

My name is Alec Loganbill and I am a rising Senior from Hesston, Kansas. I am majoring in History and will also receive a Music minor. While at Bethel College I have been heavily engaged in Student Government, a variety of music ensembles, and have been active in campus culture and social life.

My intentions for running for Student Body Vice President are rooted in my passion for helping the students of Bethel College. I have three years of experience as a member of the Student Government Association, from Freshman Senator to Chief of Staff to my current role as Student Body Vice President. During this time, I have found a real passion and calling to serve my fellow students and work to improve the experiences of students today and students for years to come. Over the past three years, SGA has become a legitimate presence on campus that has the power to make real and lasting change. I believe my greatest strength is my past experience in SGA. Throughout my three years in SGA, I have an established rapport with Bethel administration, board members, faculty, and staff. These relationships have taken time to build and are vital in making real and lasting progress at Bethel College. Furthermore, many of SGA’s larger goals such as improving reducing sexualized violence and strengthening the student presence on the Board of Directors are ongoing projects and my experience and knowledge of the history and the inner-workings of these projects will create a seamless transition from this year to next.

Specifically, Heath Goertzen and I have a number of goals we hope to achieve if elected. These include increasing student involvement, ensuring accurate representation of student opinion, and improving the efficiency of the  Student Government’s student fee spending. All of these goals relate directly to the Bethel student experience, for next year and for years to come. As I mentioned before, there are also a number of ongoing projects SGA is heavily involved in, including seeking better student representation on the Board of Directors and reducing sexualized violence on campus. I feel these long-term goals are valuable and will work to continue them should I be elected.

Beyond these goals, it should be known that our top priority is your concerns. As your elected representatives, we will always hold the needs of you, the student body of Bethel College, over our own agenda items. This has always been my mindset during my time in SGA and this will not change. If our goals conflict with those of the student body, we will change them. If we are leaving things unsaid or undone that you believe are important, we will pursue them. Simply, our concerns are your concerns.

 

Questions or concerns can be addressed on SGACares (https://bethelsga.com/sgacares/), or at the email sga@bethelks.edu