After the Student Government election on Sept. 8, Melissa Ann Clark was voted president of the Johnson Student Government Association for 2020-2021. Clark ran uncontested for the position after her first year as Treasurer.
Clark is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a double major in Math and Accounting.
Despite the pandemic, Clark is optimistic about the work the SGA has been doing and will continue to do for Johnson. “We have hit the ground running and started working on projects since the first week of being fully opened,” she wrote.
Clark says she is excited to make big change by getting more students involved in SGA. She’s hoping to foster positivity on campus and help students “have their voices heard more than ever.”
“I’m looking for students to be aware that we are an outlet for hearing their opinions and of any concerns they may have,” Clark wrote.
Clark said the biggest challenge of returning to campus was rebuilding the SGA after many members graduated last year. “It was a bit difficult to recruit individuals to join SGA until we knew a solid plan of return,” she wrote.
Even with their numbers down, Clark is proud of the work the SGA is doing. “We are working on more projects than we have in the past years combined,” she wrote, adding that every SGA member is doing their part to make the campus lively again.
“A major success for the SGA overall has been the creation of QR codes that we hope to get out to the students by the end of the semester,” she wrote. “We created these QR codes that will be made into stickers and magnets for students to have easy access to the events happening on campus without having to leave their room… or without having to search through their email.”
Students will be able to use their phones to scan these codes, and Clark says she is hoping it will increase engagement and participation at SGA events.
With participation at SGA events considerably affected due to the coronavirus, Clark would love to put on an event that fulfills exactly what the student body wants. “My dream event would involve first finding out what the students wanted for that week, and then being able to have brand new materials for the event while also having music and food. It would be an event that would be overall welcoming to the students and would allow them to relax and take a break from their academics.”
As this semester closes, Clark and her SGA team are looking toward next semester with many hopes. “We’re looking at… redoing the murals on campus while potentially partnering with the Art Department,” she wrote. Clark is also looking to make compost bins more accessible to students. “We are still coming up with many project ideas, but these are the main ones!”
Clark hopes that students know that the SGA is meant to be a resource for students. “We are the voice for them,” she wrote, “and we want to be able to help the students as much as possible. We are here throughout the entire week and we are always available through email. We want to be a resource for students to use!”