SGA Suspends Constitution - a Letter from your SGA President

(Left to right: Senator Gillian Morris, Speaker Stephlyn Buchanan, Senator Afifa Jahangeer, Senator Dania Perez, Senator Sheyla Verastegui, Senator Elizabeth Pichardo)

Dear Panthers,

On August 31st, the Student Government Association had their first meeting of the school year. The meeting comprised of both the Executive and Legislative boards as well as our three advisors. During the meeting, Bill #F2023-001, authored by SGA Speaker Stephlyn Buchanan and myself was brought forward.

The purpose of the Bill: to suspend Article I, Section 2, Clause 2, Bullet A of the PCCC SGA Constitution, “…in order to serve in the Student Government Association, a student must have already obtained twelve college-level credits….”

The reason we decided to write this Bill and present it to the SGA is because we interviewed a candidate for the last available SGA Senator position, and we believed she would be a great fit for the role. However, the candidate did not have any college level credits yet.

With the passing of this Bill, we suspended this Constitutional requirement and appointed this student while also testing to see if this requirement is a necessity for SGA applicants going forward.

During the meeting, Bill #F2023-001 was passed with 9 Yes votes to 0 No votes.

Although the SGA has taken recent legislative action for the COVID-19 pandemic and for SGA elections (2021 and 2022), SGA records show that Bill #F2023-00 is the first SGA Bill passed since 2005.

The passing of this Bill also charges the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) of the SGA with reviewing the SGA Constitution and making Amendments if necessary. Membership of the CRC is open to the PCCC student body. As a Committee member, students will meet with Stephlyn Buchanan, SGA Speaker and CRC Chair, and vote on proposed Amendments to the SGA Constitution. These amendments will be voted on by the entire PCCC student population when the 2024-2025 SGA elections are held later in the Spring 2024 semester. The CRC is expected to meet early in the Spring 2024 semester.

If you are a registered PCCC student and interested in being an appointed member of the Constitutional Review Committee, please reach out to SGA@PCCC.edu. This is a great way to get involved and bring change to the PCCC student experience.

Last, I want to welcome our new SGA Senator to the Student Government Association, Ms. Afifa Jahangeer, the candidate who inspired Bill #F2023-001. An international student from India, Ms. Jahangeer is hard-working and excited to get involved on campus and engage with her fellow Panthers.

Meet your new SGA Senator: Afifa Safreen Jahangeer

“Hello! I’m from India, Tamil Nadu, and I am a Nursing major. I love to lead and help others, so I joined SGA where I can raise my voice for my fellow students. As a Senator, I look forward to making my college and classmates proud.”

We look forward to having Senator Jahangeer on our team and seeing the ways in which this Bill may change the future of PCCC SGA student leaders. With appointing, Senator Jahangeer, all seats on both the SGA Executive and Legislative Boards are officially filled. I look forward to all we can accomplish this year with our group of ten student leaders.

Sincerely,

Sure Aygun

SGA President