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Student Government Assembly inducts new vice president, senators
By Allison Bailey
abaile19@mscd.edu

Metro’s Student Government Assembly swore in three new senators, a new vice president and a new justice of the student court on Jan. 24 and 25.

The assembly also discussed raising the Auraria renewable energy student fee and approved funds for a bicycle race.

According to her election biography, Ashley Averill, the new vice president, is a senior majoring in political science. She is a member of the sorority Sigma Sigma Sigma and said that she ran for office because she wanted to become more involved in student affairs and wanted experience with student government.

Averill said she is interested in Auraria’s sustainability and renewable energy programs and wants to be a proponent for flat-rate student fees, rather than the tiered system – based on credit hours – that is currently in place.

“It seems like people are working really hard to get things done,” Averill said about the SGA. “It’s a lot of hard workers.”

Brian Campbell, a sophomore majoring in special education, is one of the three new senators.

“I wanted to run because I thought I’d represent the student body of Metro very well, especially when it came down to what the students would probably like,” Campbell said.

In addition to serving as president of the Christian Student Association, he also works at the campus gym as a physical trainer for the disabled. Campbell said he’d like to use his position on the SGA to work toward enhancing student unity on campus.

Jacy Pickens, another new senator, was unable to attend the meeting on Jan. 24 and was instead sworn in on Jan. 25. Pickens, a sophomore and finance major, was an active member of her high school’s student government, and said she ran for senator because she wanted to become more involved at Metro.

“My goal is to, at some point, maybe run for vice president and kind of be involved with finance in the student government,” she said. “But I thought I’d start as a representative and get a feel for it.”
Pickens said she was surprised at the number of students who weren’t aware of student government at Metro.

MacKenzie Lintz, who was also sworn in as a senator on Jan. 25, was unavailable for comment.

At the Jan. 24 meeting, Sean Lally, the UCD chair of the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board, proposed raising the renewable energy fee that Auraria students pay from $1 to $5. SACAB wants students to vote on the proposed increase in April, Lally said. He brought a resolution before the Metro SGA to approve the student vote and it passed unanimously. The Auraria Board will have its first reading of the proposal Feb. 21.

The SGA also appoved $475 for the Metro Cycling Club to host a bicycle race in March and swore in a new appointee, David Crumbaker, to the student court.