The Rowan Student Government Association (SGA) held its third senate meeting of the spring semester this past Monday, electing a new Chief Commissioner of Community Standards and chartering two new clubs.
SGA announced that multiple positions were being recruited for special elections, including assistant vice president of academic affairs and assistant vice president of facilities, operations, and sustainability.
There was a special election held to fill the vacant position of chief commissioner of community standards. The position became vacant after Alexander Starick moved out of the position to become the student trustee.
Two candidates were running for the position: Max Matheusch and Elijah Jamison.
Matheusch emphasized that the community brought to him by the Rowan Navigators motivated him to run for the position.
“I really found a group of brothers, especially Joey, Jason, Tommy, Alex, and then the Navigators in general. That really has brought me a sense of brotherhood, and the reason, really, why I want to run for this position in the Community Standards is because I want to make this campus the most inclusive campus possible. I want to make every club inclusive,” said Matheusch.
Meanwhile, Jamison is relying on accountability and traditional ways if he were to be elected.
“I would like to hold everyone accountable and make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to be heard. I would rely on government documents to establish procedures, um, ordinance policies, and clear written records, promote transparency and accountability, consistency, and structures,” said Jamison.
During the questioning period, Christopher Incollingo questioned Matheusch on whether his faith would be spread too much if elected.
“You mentioned that spreading the word of God is a priority for you. And I was curious how compatible you think spreading the word of the Christian God is with creating an inclusive and diverse commission and student body, especially focusing on inclusivity for students of other religious and cultural backgrounds,” said Incollingo.
Matheusch responded honestly, once again citing his desire to encourage inclusion amongst the Rowan community.
“For me, my biggest belief is evangelism; I’m not trying to convert people to certain religions. My goal is: I want to use my testimony growing up on the spectrum and how I found community to unify the student body in general, and I want to make sure every student is included for the person that they are,” said Matheusch.
The final vote count was in favor of Jamison, earning 127 votes compared to Matheusch’s 14 votes.
Following the election, two clubs were also chartered unanimously: The Rowan Democrats Club and The International Communications Club.
The next SGA senate meeting will not be held until March 23, due to Spring Break occurring during the usual bi-weekly period of the senate.
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