Election season is underway, and questions often arise about the role of the Student Government Association (SGA).
Every spring, Morgan State University’s campus enters campaign season as students select representatives for the upcoming academic year.
These elected individuals serve the student body in various capacities through a democratic process in which students elect representatives to advocate for them.
According to the Morgan’s Student Government Association constitution,
“The SGA shall serve as the undergraduate student governance body for implementing the objectives set forth in the preamble, subject to all applicable laws and the policies of Morgan State University.”
These objectives vary by position and classification.
Each class within the student government has designated responsibilities. The sophomore class focuses on initiatives aimed at strengthening the second-year experience and fostering peer engagement.
The junior class emphasizes mentorship, including programs such as Adopt-a-Freshman, which supports first-year students transitions.
The senior class oversees aspects of the election process and collaborates with the Alumni Association and Career Development Center on post-graduation preparation.
“Each class has a focus, things they are constitutionally bound to do… but it’s also a blank canvas, so if you campaign doing something that you want to bring to life, you have to do the work to bring it to life,” said Danny Molock, director of the Office of Student Life.
The Student Government Association differs from other campus organizations in part due to its structure and funding.
It receives funding through student activity fees paid by the student body.
These funds support programming and are distributed across entities such as the Campus Activities Board (Cab), which organizes events like Homecoming and I Love Morgan Week, and the Royal Court.
“There’s a portion of [the] student activity fee that goes toward the Student Government Association to fund events, programs, things like that. SGA cannot fundraise; they can only have events and get profits from it,” said Molock.
Bougere said, “The goal is to always save more than you are spending.”
Funding is also allocated to provide stipends for select leadership roles, including the SGA president, vice president, and Mr. and Miss Morgan State University.
The SGA president and vice president regularly meet with university leadership, including the university president and the vice president of student affairs.
During these meetings, student concerns and proposals are discussed.
“We host meetings where we talk to students with full transparency about issues on campus, we pick these students randomly so that there is no bias and they feel comfortable to share how they feel,” said Bougere.
He added that members “bring motions that the Senate brings up to see what they can do to help better the campus as a whole.”
While these meetings are not public, SGA leadership communicates updates to the student body through student organization caucuses which are held monthly for all organizations on campus, social media and newsletters.
Branches of the Student Government Association
SGA is structured into three branches: legislative (student senate), executive (the president, vice president and the executive board) and judicial branch (chief justice and six associate justices).
These branches function as checks and balances within the organization.
The judicial branch is currently undergoing revisions. Officials say it will work more closely with the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and align with the university’s established judicial processes.
SGA members also participate in regional training initiatives.
“SGA goes through training with Baltimore CollegeTown, which brings together all the Maryland universities in the Baltimore area. They work together as SGAs to make sure all our policies are aligned and similar,” said Molock.
As a student-led organization, SGA includes accountability measures.
Members are expected to adhere to bylaws and fulfill the responsibilities associated with their positions. Students may raise concerns regarding representation or performance, and internal processes exist to address these issues.
“If someone isn’t performing to their fullest potential and it’s noticeable, we definitely have sit-down meetings for improvements and recaps after events to say what we could have done better,” said Bougere.
The constitution also outlines an impeachment process, which can be initiated by the Student Senate if necessary.
Students are encouraged to engage with SGA by attending events, requesting meetings with representatives and participating in campus initiatives.
“If there is something that you’re either interested in, want to know more about, these are your elected officials, request a meeting, set up time to meet with them, attend events and share your opinion. I would encourage anyone to just come out and get involved,” said Molock.
“SGA’s role is advocacy, and if there’s things that need to be advocated for, students have to show up and go through their leaders. These are your leaders – talk to them, ” Molock added.
