Southeast Missouri State University student publication

SGA Elections: Who is running?

Monday, April 2, 2018

Student Government Association is the representative body of students whose responsibility is to be a voice for Southeast students by working with university administration and the board of regents to resolve issues, provide opportunities and weigh in on issues that affect students. SGA has the power to directly affect student life on campus, and it’s that time of year again for students to cast their votes on next year’s SGA leadership.

Following last year’s unopposed re-election of current SGA president Peyton Mogley and vice president Dylan Kennedy, this year’s ballot is full of new names and ideas for students to vote on April 4 and 5.

There are three tickets running for the executive positions of president, vice president and treasurer, and they all have different ideas about how to lead student government.

Rolwing, Bohnert, Goffinet: Believe in Southeast

Southeast junior Matt Rolwing, freshman Eli Bohnert and sophomore Xander Goffinet are running on a ticket for the positions of president, vice president and treasurer, respectively.

Matt Rolwing, a junior from East Prairie, Missouri, is majoring in corporate communications and is involved in SGA, Phi Beta Lambda, RHA, Phi Delta Theta and the Interfraternity Executive Council Board. He’s running for SGA president.

Bohnert is a freshman and political science major from Perryville, Missouri, who said he prides himself on being involved in a diverse group of organizations like SGA, College Democrats, PRIDE, Secular Student Alliance and Model UN.

A sophomore by credit, Goffinet is involved in both his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta and SGA. He hails from Carterville, Illinois, and is double majoring in economics and political science.

Xander Goffinet, Matt Rolwing, Eli Bohnert
Photo submitted by Eli Bohnert

The trio has a wide range of interests and campus involvement between them, but one commonality between them is their dedication to transparency and increasing campus morale with the campaign slogan, “Believe in Southeast.”

They said they believe recent budget cuts began to leave a mark on the Southeast community after many programs and staff positions were eliminated, and the university had to be completely restructured.

“I think part of increasing the morale that’s kind of down right now is reaching out to students and making sure there is a ticket running that believes in them,” Bohnert said.

Part of believing in students, Rolwing said, is ensuring their voices are not lost during the restructuring. Because there are SGA senators for each college, the restructuring will affect student representation of senators per college. If elected, Rolwing said his administration would pay special attention to ensuring no voices are left out from senate.

Bohnert said the purpose of student government is to be a voice for students, and he stressed the importance of SGA representatives reaching out to students to better represent their interests.

The ticket has been involved in rallying student organizations to help send Gov. Eric Greitens a letter about the impact of the budget cuts he has implemented for higher education across the state, Rolwing said.

Kaplan, Tibbs: Student government that works for the students

Two freshmen with big ideas for the future of student government are running on a ticket without a treasurer: Morgan Kaplan and Reagen Tibbs.

Kaplan, the candidate for president hails from the Chicago area, but said Southeast was her first and only choice for a new place to call home during her undergraduate years. She said she immediately fell in love with the university and has filled her first year with clubs, organizations and schoolwork.

She’s double majoring in social work and Spanish and is involved in SGA, Alpha Delta Pi, RHA, the student social work club, as well as leadership programs like Emerging Leaders and First-Year Leadership. She’s also a student ambassador.

Morgan Kaplan
University photo

Kaplan’s running mate for vice president has a similar affinity for being busy. Tibbs, from Middletown, Illinois, is a double major in agribusiness and political science. He’s involved in several campus organizations including SGA, Turning Point USA, College Republicans, Livestock Showing Team and FFA.

The duo may be on the go all the time, but Kaplan said she’s learned during her freshman year how to “make time” rather than find it, an idea inspired by Mogley’s convocation speech.

Reagen Tibbs
University photo

Despite recent budget cuts, Tibbs said his ticket believes student government has the power to help lift university morale and see the university come out stronger than ever.

Part of the way SGA can do that, Tibbs added, is by creating a student government that works for students rather than presiding over them, the idea at the heart of their campaign platform.

“It’s really important [for SGA] to be that key link between [the students and the university administration] so they can come to us and then we can go to them and make sure that changes are made that need to be made,” Kaplan said.

The pair said some ideas they’d like to implement, if elected, are promoting efficiency for senate, “jumpstarting student government” by reaching out to students and creating a student government that works for students on campus.

Kappler, Smith, Wehrenberg: Unifying the student body

Caleb Kappler, a sophomore majoring in health care administration, is running for SGA president. Kappler hails from Saint Louis and is involved in student organizations such as SGA, Pi Kappa Alpha and Turning Point USA.

Madison Smith, Kappler’s running mate for vice president, is a junior from Farmington, Missouri, majoring in integrated marketing communication. The organizations she’s involved in on campus include SGA, Turning Point USA, Students for Life and the Catholic Campus ministry.

Collin Wehrenberg, a sophomore majoring in finance from Columbia, Illinois is the ticket’s candidate for treasurer. He served in the U.S. Navy and is currently involved in SGA at Southeast.

Collin Wehrenberg, Caleb Kappler, Madison Smith
Photo submitted by Collin Wehrenberg

Smith said her ticket is interested in keeping student fees as low as possible to help the university retain its affordability, a large selling point for Southeast.

“It’s really about finding those areas where students are least affected,” Kappler said.

If elected, Smith said the group would like to increase representation for more groups on campus while also “bridging gaps” for student groups on campus. One way to do that, Wehrenberg said, is by ensuring seats for voting members from groups outside SGA whose voices may not be heard in student government.

“We want to connect everybody so everyone is on the same page, everyone likes everybody,” Wehrenberg said.

Kappler said that sense of unification is what student government is all about.

“Student government is just a hodgepodge of the Southeast community. Student government really comes together as one despite any of their differences that they have to try and better their community,” Kappler said.

Voting for SGA will take place on April 4 and 5. To vote, sign into SELink.semo.edu using your student portal information and submit your ballot online.

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